Fisher, Robert Frank (Flight Lieutenant)

Killed in Flying Accident 1943-October-20

Flight Lieutenant Robert Frank Fisher RCAF

Birth Date: 1920-June-04

Born: Armstrong, North Okanagan Regional District, British Columbia, Canada

Parents: Son of Steele and Agnes Ellen (nee Hammill) Fisher, of Armstrong, British Columbia. Brother of Flying Officer William John Fisher, RCAF, who died 7 October 1943.

Spouse:

Home: Armstrong, British Columbia

Enlistment: Vancouver, British Columbia

Enlistment Date: 1940-October-10

Decorations: MiD

Mentioned in Dispatches

Service

RCAF

Unit

10 (B) Sqn- Squadron

Base

RCAF Stn. Gander, Newfoundland

Rank

Flight Lieutenant

Position

Pilot

Service Numbers

J/5821

Home
Google MapArmstrong, British Columbia
Temporary Burial
Google Mapcrash site on Black Mountain, Quebec

Remains were later exhumed from this location and reburied

Final Burial
Google MapMontagne Noire
Collective Grave Lot GE 34

Born in Armstrong, British Columbia; educated there; enlisted in Vancouver, 10 October 1940. Trained at No.1 ITS (graduated 27 January 1941), No.9 EFTS (graduated 17 March 1941), and No.2 SETS (graduated 16 June 1941). Had flown 1,218:25 hours to date, 303:35 operational hours (35 sorties). Fisher was pilot of the Liberator that sank U-341, 19 September 1943. Killed in crash of Liberator 3701 H on 20 October 1943 10 North Atlantic Squadron, Gander, Newfoundland. Liberator aircraft crashed. Addendum: - Mention in Despatches - No.10 (BR) Squadron (now missing) - Award effective 8 June 1944 as per London Gazette of that date and AFRO 1380/44 dated 30 June 1944. . The citation reads - "This officer has displayed exceptional ability and devotion to duty throughout his service as a pilot on anti-submarine operations. He was captain of a VLR Liberator which attacked an enemy submarine in the North Atlantic area and, despite the intensity of opposition, he pressed home the attack with such skill that the U-Boat was assessed as probably destroyed." Detail provided by H. Halliday, Orleans, Ontario.

Flight Lieutenant Fisher was BROTHER of Flying Officer WJ Fisher (RCAF) pilot who was killed in action on 354 RAF Squadron Liberator BZ 887 D in India, 1943-10-7

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

www.findagrave.com

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Crew or Other Personnel

Liberator 3701

Warrant Officer 2 Joseph Alexander Barabonoff RCAF

Warrant Officer 2 Barabonoff, Joseph Alexander (RCAF)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Corporal Harold David Beattie RCAF

Corporal Beattie, Harold David (RCAF)
Aero Engine Mechanic
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Leading Aircraftman Charles Laurie Dynes RCAF

Leading Aircraftman Dynes, Charles Laurie (RCAF)
Aero Engine Mechanic
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Sergeant Franklin Hicks Elliott RCAF

Sergeant Elliott, Franklin Hicks (RCAF)

Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Sergeant Eric Morgan Finn RCAF

Sergeant Finn, Eric Morgan (RCAF)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Flight Lieutenant Robert Frank Fisher RCAF

Flight Lieutenant Fisher, Robert Frank (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Corporal Howard Kenneth Hambly RCAF

Corporal Hambly, Howard Kenneth (RCAF)
Aero Engine Mechanic
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Warrant Officer 1 Wilfred Howlett RCAF

Warrant Officer 1 Howlett, Wilfred (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Warrant Officer 1 Franklin Elwood Jenkins RCAF

Warrant Officer 1 Jenkins, Franklin Elwood (RCAF)
W/Op-AG
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Corporal Alec Clarence Johnston RCAF

Corporal Johnston, Alec Clarence (RCAF)
Aero Engine Mechanic
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Flying Officer Jay Syver Johnston RCAF

Flying Officer Johnston, Jay Syver (RCAF)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Pilot Officer James Lamont RCAF

Pilot Officer Lamont, James (RCAF)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Pilot Officer Robert William MacDonald RCAF

Pilot Officer MacDonald, Robert William (RCAF)
Air Gunner (Rear)
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Sergeant William Gordon MacNaughton RCAF

Sergeant MacNaughton, William Gordon (RCAF)
Navigator
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Corporal Ronald Douglas Marr RCAF

Corporal Marr, Ronald Douglas (RCAF)
Armourer
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Leading Aircraftman Guy Ridgewood Patterson RCAF

Leading Aircraftman Patterson, Guy Ridgewood (RCAF)
Radio Telephone Operator
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Flight Lieutenant Joseph Alfred Raymond Poirier RCAF

Flight Lieutenant Poirier, Joseph Alfred Raymond (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Leading Aircraftman Albert James Radcliffe RCAF

Leading Aircraftman Radcliffe, Albert James (RCAF)

Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Leading Aircraftman Edwin William Read RCAF

Leading Aircraftman Read, Edwin William (RCAF)
Armourer
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Flying Officer Stephen Andrew Sanderson RCAF

Flying Officer Sanderson, Stephen Andrew (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Warrant Officer 1 Jacob Silverstein RCAF

Warrant Officer 1 Silverstein, Jacob (RCAF)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Leading Aircraftman Joseph Achille Jean Paul Veilleux RCAF

Leading Aircraftman Veilleux, Joseph Achille Jean Paul (RCAF)

Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Flt. Sergeant Raymond Frank Ware RCAF

Flt. Sergeant Ware, Raymond Frank (RCAF)
Air Gunner
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Sergeant Stanley Albert Wood RCAF

Sergeant Wood, Stanley Albert (RCAF)
Aero Engine Mechanic
Killed in Flying Accident
1943-October-20
Montagne Noire, Chemin Regimbald, Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Quebec, Canada

Accident Card - Consolidated Liberator B-24D / Mk. V serial:3701

This accident involved 1 aircraft on 1943-October-20. Liberator V s/n 3701.

This accident involved 24 people. MacDonald RW, Sanderson SA, Poirier JAR, Lamont J, Johnson JS, Jenkins FE, Barabanoff JA, Fisher RF, Howlett W, Ware RF, Mcnaughton WG, Finn EM, Silverstein J, Read EW, Veilleux JAJP, Dynes CL, Hambly HK, Johnston AC, Marr RD, Patterson GR, Radcliffe AJ, Elliott FH, Wood SA, Beattie HD

This accident had 24 fatalities. Sergeant Eric Morgan Finn RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/72026 Liberator 3701, Sergeant Stanley Albert Wood RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/51027 Liberator 3701, Leading Aircraftman Joseph Achille Jean Paul Veilleux RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/177329 Liberator 3701, Flight Lieutenant Robert Frank Fisher RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:J/5821 Liberator 3701, Leading Aircraftman Edwin William Read RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/150207 Liberator 3701, Sergeant William Gordon MacNaughton RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/7526 Liberator 3701, Corporal Howard Kenneth Hambly RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/78656 Liberator 3701, Pilot Officer Robert William MacDonald RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:J/37357 Liberator 3701, Leading Aircraftman Albert James Radcliffe RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/177668 Liberator 3701, Corporal Ronald Douglas Marr RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/99167 Liberator 3701, Warrant Officer 2 Joseph Alexander Barabonoff RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/129211 Liberator 3701, Flight Lieutenant Joseph Alfred Raymond Poirier RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:J/9147 Liberator 3701, Corporal Harold David Beattie RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/84899 Liberator 3701, Warrant Officer 1 Franklin Elwood Jenkins RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/72936 Liberator 3701, Flying Officer Jay Syver Johnston RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:J/7987 Liberator 3701, Flt. Sergeant Raymond Frank Ware RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:4074 Liberator 3701, Corporal Alec Clarence Johnston RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/64066 Liberator 3701, Leading Aircraftman Charles Laurie Dynes RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/173349 Liberator 3701, Warrant Officer 1 Jacob Silverstein RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/67673 Liberator 3701, Leading Aircraftman Guy Ridgewood Patterson RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/207868 Liberator 3701, Flying Officer Stephen Andrew Sanderson RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:J/21297 Liberator 3701, Warrant Officer 1 Wilfred Howlett RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/113408 Liberator 3701, Sergeant Franklin Hicks Elliott RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/74645 Liberator 3701, Pilot Officer James Lamont RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:J/39103 Liberator 3701

Mission

Liberator B-24D / Mk. V 3701

Transport 1943-October-20 to 1943-October-20

10 (BR) Sqn (RCAF) RCAF Station Gander

10 North Atlantic (BR) Squadron, Gander, Newfoundland. Liberator V aircraft 3701 H flying from Gander, Newfoundland to Mont Joli, Quebec was redirected to Dorval, Quebec due to poor weather conditions at Mont Joli. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft before it crashed and burned on the west side of the 2,500 foot foothill of Black Mountain, Quebec. A search at the time of the crash failed to find the crash site. The wreckage of the aircraft and remains of the 24 casualties was not located until 1946-06-20. A Memorial Cairn was erected on the Black Mountain crash site in memory of those who lost their lives there

Flight Crew: Sergeant WG MacNaughton MiD (RCAF), Flight Lieutenant JA Poirier (RCAF), Flying Officer SA Sanderson AFM (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 2 JA Barabonoff (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 1 J Silverstein MiD (RCAF), Pilot Officer RW MacDonald MiD (RCAF)

Passengers: Flight Lieutenant RF Fisher MiD (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 1 W Howlett (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 1 FE Jenkins (RCAF), Cpl HD Beattie (RCAF), Cpl RD Marr (RCAF), Cpl HK Hambly (RCAF), Cpl AC Johnston (RCAF), Pilot Officer J Lamont MiD (RCAF), Leading Aircraftman CL Dynes (RCAF), Leading Aircraftman GR Patterson (RCAF), Leading Aircraftman AJ Radcliffe (RCAF), Leading Aircraftman EW Read (RCAF)(USA), Sergeant FH Elliott (RCAF)(USA), Sergeant EM Finn (RCAF), Leading Aircraftman JAJP Veilleux (RCAF), FS RF Ware (RCAF), Sergeant SA Wood (RCAF) and Flying Officer JS Johnston MiD (RCAF) were all killed in this flying accident

All were buried at the crash site where the cairn stands in their honour until 1985, when the crews remains were exhumed and moved to a cemetery St. Donat, Quebec due to vandalism at the crash site. Detail provided by C Lambert

The Liberator in Royal Air Force and Commonwealth Service by James D Oughton page 263

unvetted Source 19/20.1943. No.10 RCAF Bomber Reconnaissance Squadron B-24...

unvetted Source Liberator RCAF 3701 [Royal Air Force Aircraft Serial and Image]...

Liberator serial: 3701

(DND Photos via James Craik) (Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)
Consolidated Liberator G.R. Mk. VIII, RCAF (Serial No. 11130) ex-USAAF Consolidated (Vultee) B-24L Liberator USAAF (44-50154)
ex-RAF (Serial No. 5009), ex-Indian Air Force (Serial No. HE773).
Currently preserved in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum Ottawa Ontario.

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber flown by the RCAF during the Second Word War. It was designed with a shoulder-mounted, high aspect ratio Davis wing which gave the Liberator a high cruise speed, long range and the ability to carry a heavy bomb load. Early RAF Liberators were the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean as a matter of routine. In comparison with its contemporaries the B-24 was relatively difficult to fly and had poor low speed performance; it also had a lower ceiling compared with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Of the roughly 18,500 B-24s built in the USA during the war, 148 were flown by the RCAF on long range anti-submarine patrols, with the B-24 serving an instrumental role in closing the Mid-Atlantic gap in the Battle of the Atlantic. The RCAF also flew a few B-24s post war as transports.

Roughly half of all (RAF) Liberator crews in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theatre were Canadian by the end of the war. John Muir of Vancouver flew the longest mission of the war: 24hrs, 10mins from Ceylon to Burma and back. (Kyle Hood) Harold Skaarup web page


YouTube Liberator bomber

Wikipedia Wikipedia Liberator bomber

unvetted Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Aircraft Images

Liberator 3701

Liberator B-24D / Mk. V 3701

H {{clearfloat}} {{storedserimage,Liberator3701.jpg,float:right;width:400px;margin-left:10px;,3701 Tail RCAF photo via Mike Kaehler}}

Ex USAAF B-24D-25-CO serial number 41-24236. General note on the first RCAF B-24Ds (3701 to 3704): Received second hand from USAAF, in very poor condition and without all operational equipment. Mostly used only for training and transportation by RCAF. Initially operated in USAAF camouflage. The designation Mk. V was never officially used by RCAF. These aircraft were generally known as "Brazilian Liberators", in the belief that they had come from a USAAF unit based in Brazil (not confirmed by US records).

Operated by No. 10 (BR) Squadron, RCAF Station Gander, Newfoundland. Went missing on flight from Gander to Mt. Joli, Quebec, on 19 / 20 October 1943. Aircraft was diverted to Dorval because of poor weather at Mt. Joli, wreckage not found until June 1946. 24 fatalities, including most of the crew of Liberator 595, on leave after sinking U-341 a few weeks earlier.


1943-09-29 Taken on Strength 2019-08-20
1943-October-20 Accident: 10 Squadron Loc: Names: Barabanoff | Beattie | Dynes | Elliott | Finn | Fisher | Hambly | Howlett | Jenkins | Johnson | Johnston | Lamont | MacDonald | Marr | Mcnaughton | Patterson | Poirier | Radcliffe | Read | Sanderson | Silverstein | Veilleux | Ware | Wood
1944-03-23 Struck off Strength Struck off, after crashing at St. Donat, near Mont Joli, PQ on night of 19 / 20 October 1943. 2019-08-20

Unit Desciption

10 (B) 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