Henderson, William Ashton

Killed in Flying Accident 1944-08-03

Birth Date: 1917

Born:

Son of William and Ethel Henderson, of Sparta.

Home: Sparta, Ontario

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: Unknown

Service

RCAF

Unit

10 EFTS- Elementary Flying Training School

Base

Pendleton, Ontario, Canada

Rank

Flying Officer

Position

Flying Officer

Service Numbers

J/36143

Home

Sparta, Ontario

First Burial

Sparta Cemetery, Sparta, Ontario

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.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

www.findagrave.com

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

This incident involved multiple aircraft:

Cornell Cornell III Serial: 15208

All the above aircraft in the above list are referenced in this report.

Findagrave.com

Cornell 15208

Flying Officer Henderson, William Ashton (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Flying Accident
1944-August-03
Sparta Cemetery, Sparta, Ontario, Canada

Leading Aircraftman Walker, Ronald Gerrard (RCAF)
air frame mechanic
Killed in Flying Accident
1944-August-03
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Fairchild Cornell

Fairchild Cornell Mk. II
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

Fairchild_Cornell_159.jpg image not found

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

Wikipedia Cornell Trainer

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

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.