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Hill, William Leslie (Flight Sergeant)

Killed in Flying Accident 1943-November-26

Birth Date: 1920-October-02 (age 23)

Born: Lenore Manitoba

Son of William Andrew and Margaret Hill, of Lenore, Manitoba.

Home: Lenore, Manitoba

Service
RCAF
Unit
5 BGS- Bombing & Gunnery School
Base
Dafoe, Saskatchewan, Canada
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
Pilot
Service Numbers
R/140992
FS Hill, Sergeant P.E. Galgan, LACs J. Barnes (RAF), and T. Crossthwaite (RAF) were engaged in a wind velocity exercise and were all killed when Anson aircraft 11287 caught fire and crashed eight miles north of Leroy, Saskatchewan.

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 MapLenore, Manitoba
Burial
Google MapBreadalbane Cemetery
Plot 66

Anson 11287

Avro Anson

Avro Anson Mk. V
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
The Museum's Anson Mk. V was built by MacDonald Brothers in Winnipeg in 1944. It flew with No. 7 Photographic Wing and No. 414 Squadron in Ottawa on photo survey work until the late 1940s. In 1956, it was purchased by INCO and used for mineral surveying until 1980, when it was donated to the Museum. The exterior is painted in the yellow colour common to all BCATP trainers and is in its same wartime RCAF markings.

The Avro Anson was known by a number of nicknames including "Faithful Annie" or "Flying Greenhouse". It was the first aircraft to be flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force to have a retractable undercarriage, which was a comparative novelty in 1936. In 1940, a Canadian government owned company, Federal Aircraft Limited, was created in Montreal to manufacture the Anson for Canadian use. Nearly 3,000 Anson aircraft were produced and, in the early days of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), the Anson was the standard trainer for many pilots, observers (navigators), wireless operators and bomb aimers. More than 20,000 aircrew received training on the Anson. In Canadian service, the aircraft was substantially re-designed with the substitution of North American engines and many other airframe and equipment changes. Harold Skaarup web pages

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

YouTube Avro Anson History

YouTube Avro Anson Construction

last update: 2022-02-22 21:45:24

Anson Mk. II 11287

Delivered to user unit 18 December 1942. With No. 5 Bombing & Gunnery School at Dafoe, Saskatchewan when it crashed and was destroyed by post impact fire on 26 November 1943 after crashing 8 miles north of Leroy, Saskatchewan. Leading Aircraftman J. Barnes and Leading Aircraftman T. Crosthwaite, both RAF, plus Sgt. P.E. Galgan and Flight Sergeant W.L. Hill, both RCAF, killed. Allocated to No. 8 Repair Depot on 3 December 1943 for write off.

1943-November-26 Accident: 5 Bomb & Gunnery School Loc: Leroy Names: Barnes | Crosthwaite | Galgan | Hill
1943-12-11 Taken on Strength No. 2 Training Command 2020-10-11
1944-01-12 Struck off Strength 2019-08-20

5 BGS (5 Bomb and Gunnery School)

The Bombing and Gunnery School (B&GS) offered instruction in the techniques of bomb aiming and aerial machine gunnery to Air Observers, Bomb Aimers, and Wireless Air Gunners. These schools required large areas to accommodate their bombing and gunnery ranges, and were often located near water. The Avro Anson, Fairey Battle, Bristol Bolingbroke, and Westland Lysander were the standard aircraft used at B&GS schools.
NO5 BGS Dafoe SK Patch

RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - RCAF Station Dafoe SK

Museum Saskatchewan Virtual War Memorial - 5 BGS History

Museum Vintage Wings Ghosts Of Saskatchewan

General RCAF Dafoe Blog

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