Born: Galahad, Wainwright Census Division, Alberta, Canada
Son of Henry William and Donalda Howlett of Galahad, Alberta.
Home: Galahad, Alberta
Service RCAF
Unit 10 (B) Sqn- Squadron
Base RCAF Stn. Gander, Newfoundland
Rank
Warrant Officer 1
Marshal
Air Chief Marshal
A/C/M
Air Marshal
A/M
Air Vice Marshal
A/V/M
Air Commodore
A/C
Group Captain
G/C
Wing Commander
W/C
Squadron Leader
S/L
Flight Lieutenant
F/L
Flying Officer
F/O
Pilot Officer
P/O
Warrant Officer 1st Class
WO1
Warrant Officer 2nd Class
WO2
Flight Sergeant
FS
Sergeant
SGT
Corporal
CPL
Senior Aircraftman
SAC
Leading Aircraftman
LAC
Aircraftman 1st Class
AC1
Aircraftman 2nd Class
AC2
Position Pilot
Service Numbers R/113408
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
(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
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.
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
This website uses cookies to ensure the best possible user experience. More Info.
Cookies
This site uses cookies to enhance the user experience.
CASPIR gathers information about your computer configuration to offer additional user experiences. CASPIR does not gather or store any information, personal or otherwise about you either in the cookies or on our servers.
To search on any page: PC — Ctrl-F Mac — ⌘-F Mobile — or …