Hide, Dennis Carrington (Warrant Officer 1st Class)

Killed in Flying Accident 1942-May-17

Another crash took the life of instructor W/O D. C. Hide, while he was at the controls of a Harvard during a low flying exercise. The aircraft struck a hydro wire near Gananoque Lake sending the aircraft into the water. A/LA Paul Snowden, age 21, fortunately escaped with his life. The C/O's diary records the following details: "W/O D. C. Hide killed in flying accident. Took off at 8:40 a.m. with A/LA P. Snowden to carry out instrument flying. After the pupil had flown "˜under the hood' for 40 minutes, W/O Hide took over control in the low flying area for Relief Airdrome, Gananoque." The crash occurred near two American fishing parties from Griffin's Lodge and the young pupil was pulled into the boat piloted by Lewis Griffin. A/LA Snowden said: "I undid the straps and got out, but my parachute pulled me to the bottom. I had to take it off too before I could swim to the surface and by that time, I couldn't stay under any longer to help the other fellow." He had seen the instructor's head strike the instrument panel as he plunged forward on impact and credited his own miraculous escape to the fact that he was strapped in so tightly as to prevent his being thrown forward. The Kingston Whig reported, "A minimum of excitement was attendant upon the incident. Within an hour nothing but a single pole sticking from the water 250 yards away from two dangling hydro wires remained to show that sudden death had invaded the quiet of the lakeside fishing resort. The necessary officials had made their visits, the rescued airman had been hustled off to Collins Bay, the plane had been pronounced unrecoverable without special equipment and the officials had departed, leaving the holiday makers to resume their Sunday fishing." Twenty-five year old W.O. Dennis Hide was the son of Eric and Elsie Hide and was survived by his wife, Joan (nee Burden) of Burley, Hampshire. His ashes were scattered over Lake Ontario. His name appears on The Cremation Memorial at the Ottawa Beechwood Cemetery. [The memorial commemorates twenty-six servicemen, including Commanding Officer, G/C Shekleton.] On May 26, 1999, former A/LA Snowdon brought his wife to meet the man who saved his life, Lewis Griffin, and to finally thank him in person. The Snowdons were greeted at City Hall by then mayor, Gary Bennett. Snowdon said he would long be grateful to the mayor who had responded to a letter he had written only a month earlier asking for help in tracking down the man who had saved his life. Mayor Bennett had contacted The Whig-Standard because it had carried the coverage of the crash and they were able to bring the two together. Snowdon said officials at the aerodrome had made sure that he was up and flying the next day. After completing his training in the U.K., he had served on active duty and flew with the Fleet Air Arm until 1946. Upon retirement from a successful career and travels throughout the world, he had decided to return to the crash site on the Gananoque Lake. While driving back to Kingston, he was quiet: "I'm quite overcome, really. It puts the clock back; you do become more alive. The years just roll away and you feel just as you were 50 years ago." Warrant Officer Class I Hide's body was cremated and his name is commemorated on a panel at the Ottawa Cremation Memorial in the Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa, Ontario.

Harvards Above, A book about 31 Service Flying Training School - In Memoriam

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Warrant Officer 1st Class Dennis Carrington Hide was cremated.

Harvard AJ649

North American Harvard NA-26 NA-44

North American Harvard Mk. IV
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

The North American Harvard appeared in 1937, in response to a US Air Corps proposal for an advanced trainer. The first of 50 Harvard Mk. Is ordered by the Canadian Government were delivered to RCAF Sea Island, BC in July 1939. By early 1940, the Mk. II was being assembled in California with an all metal fuselage replacing the original tube and fabric structure. 1200 Mk. IIs were supplied from US sources, until Canadian built Harvards started being produced in 1941.

In August 1938, Noorduyn Aviation of Montreal farsightedly signed an agreement with North American, to build the Harvard under licence. When the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) came into being in December 1939, Noorduyn received its first orders and went on to produce nearly 2800 Harvard Mk. IIBs for the RCAF and the RAF, between 1940 and 1945. In Canada, Harvard Mk. IIBs were used as advanced trainers with the BCATP at fifteen Service Flying Training Schools across the nation. They helped pilots make to the transition from low powered primary trainers, like Fleet Finch or the de Havilland Tiger Moth, to high performance front line fighters such as the Spitfire.

At the end of WW II, although the RCAF retained the Harvard as a trainer, a large number of them were sold off to civilian operators. The RCAF soon regretted this, for by 1949 the Cold War with the Soviet Union was in full swing and the RCAF urgently needed trainers again. 100 T-6J Texans were leased temporarily from the USAF and a further 270 Harvards, the Mk. IV version, were ordered from Canadian Car & Foundry, Thunder Bay. The RCAF used the Harvard Mk. IV for a further fifteen years, before finally retiring it in 1966.

A total of 20,110 Harvards were built between 1938 and 1954, 3,370 of them in Canada. Countless numbers of privately owned Harvards are still flying today.

Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's Harvard Mk. IV was built by Canadian Car & Foundry, Thunder Bay, Ontario in late 1951. The aircraft saw service at four RCAF flying schools across the nation until it was sold to a civilian owner in 1965. It was the third aircraft to join the Museum after Dennis Bradley, Alan Ness and John Weir donated it in 1973. Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

Harvard Advanced Trainer

Wikipedia Harvard Advanced Trainer

Harold A Skaarup Web Page

CASPIR Aircraft Groups:

RCAF Owned (2196) RCAF 400 Squadrons (13) Canadian Crewed (375) Canadian Manufactured (3400) RCN (3) Canadian Museum (5) Cold Weather Testing (1)

last update: 2021-10-19 20:12:13

Harvard Mk. II AJ649

Equipped with Dunlop pneumatic firing gear. Used by No. 31 Service Flying Training School at Kingston, Ontario. Category C damage at Kingston aerodrome at 17:10 on 12 December 1941, when Harvard AJ593 taxiied into rear of this aircraft. Category A crash at Gananoque, Ontario at 09:30 on 17 May 1942. Struck power lines while low flying. Came down in Gananoque Lake. Warrant Officer D.C. Hide, RAF killed, student ALA P. Snowden survived.

1941-08-20 Taken on Strength No. 1 Training Command 2019-08-20
1941-December-12 Accident: 31 Service Flying Training School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Beddington | Foulds
1942-May-17 Accident: 31 Service Flying Training School Loc: Gananoque Lake Ontario Names: Hide | Snowdon
1942-07-15 Struck off Strength Struck off, scrapped at No. 6 Repair Depot 2019-08-20

31 SFTS (31 Service Flying Training School)

Graduates of the EFTS "learn-to-fly" program went on a Service Flying Training School (SFTS) for 16 weeks. For the first 8 weeks the trainee was part of an intermediate training squadron; for the next 6 weeks an advanced training squadron and for the final 2 weeks training was conducted at a Bombing & Gunnery School. The Service schools were military establishments run by the RCAF or the RAF.

There were two different types of Service Flying Training Schools. Trainees in the fighter pilot stream went to an SFTS like No. 14 Aylmer, where they trained in the North American Harvard or North American Yale. Trainees in the bomber, coastal or transport pilot stream went to an SFTS like No. 5 Brantford where they learned multi-engine technique in an Airspeed Oxford, Avro Anson or Cessna Crane.

SFTS31 Kingston ON

For More information on RCAF Station Kingston see here

RCAF.Info - RCAF Station Kingston ON

RCAF.Info - Relief Landing Field Ganaoque ON

RCAF.Info - Relief Landing Field Sandhurst ON