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Henderson, William Ashton (Flying Officer)

Killed in Flying Accident 1944-August-03

Birth Date: 1917 (age 27)

Son of William and Ethel Henderson, of Sparta.

Home: Sparta, Ontario

Service
RCAF
Unit
10 EFTS- Elementary Flying Training School
Base
Pendleton, Ontario, Canada
Rank
Flying Officer
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
Pilot
Service Numbers
J/36143
LAC R.G. Walker and Flying Officer W.A. Henderson were on a routine practise flight and were both killed when Cornell aircraft 15208 struck the ground at a steep angle one mile south-east of Clarence, Ontario.

Canada Primary Source School Daily Diary Entry "“ 1944-08-03

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Find-A-Grave.com Finadagrave.com

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

Home
Google MapSparta, Ontario
Burial
Google MapSparta Cemetery
Plot 2 Grave 1

Cornell 15208

Fairchild Cornell

Fairchild Cornell Mk. II
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

In early 1942, an agreement was signed between the Canadian Government and Fairchild Aircraft, which licenced Fleet Aircraft of Fort Erie, Ontario to construct the PT-26 Cornell in Canada. The first 800 Cornells used by the RCAF were supplied from Fairchild, until production commenced at Fort Erie in November 1942. By the end of the war in 1945, 2,853 Cornells had been built by Fleet - 1,565 for the RCAF and 1,288 for the RAF.

PT-26 Cornells were flown at many of the Elementary Flying Training Schools (EFTS) of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, where they replaced the Fleet Finch and the de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane trainers. After the Second World War, many Cornells were sold to the civilian market, but some were retained by the RCAF, where they were finally retired in 1948. CWPHM



YouTube Cornell Trainer

Wkikpedia Wikipedia Cornell Trainer

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

last update: 2021-08-30 13:45:56

Cornell Cornell III 15208

Canada Primary Source RCAF - Accident Investigation File



1943-09-08 Taken on Strength 2022-02-07
1944-January-17 Accident: 11 Elementary Flying Training School Loc: Rivers Cache Names: Robinson
1944-August-03 Accident: 10 Elementary Flying Training School Loc: Clarence Ontario Names: Henderson | Walker
1944-08-29 Struck off Strength 2022-02-07

10 EFTS (10 Elementary Flying Training School)

An Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) gave a trainee 50 hours of basic flying instruction on a simple trainer like the De Havilland Tiger Moth, Fleet Finch, or Fairchild Cornell over 8 weeks.Elementary schools were operated by civilian flying clubs under contract to the RCAF and most of the instructors were civilians. For example, No. 12 EFTS Goderich was run by the Kitchener-Waterloo Flying Club and the County of Huron Flying Club.The next step for a pilot was the Service Flying Training School.

Mount Hope Airport
Information on RCAF Station Mount Hope can be found here

RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - RCAF Station Mount Hope (Hamilton) Ontario

On 31 August 1942 moved to Pendleton Ontario

Information on RCAF Station Pendleton can be found here.

RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - RCAF Station Pendleton Ontario

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