Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum logo

Kirk, Gordon Leonard (Leading Aircraftman)

Killed in Flying Accident 1942-April-01

Birth Date: 1923 (age 19)

Son of Alexander Gordon and Annie Kirk, of North Bay.

Home: North Bay, Ontario

Service
RCAF
Unit
14 SFTS- Service Flying Training School
Base
Aylmer, Ontario, Canada
Rank
Leading Aircraftman
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/117289
Harvard aircraft 3224 was on a routine training flight completing sequences 5, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 when it dove into the ground in the low-flying area at Lakeview, Ontario, Pilot Officer J.K. McLean also killed.

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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

Home
Google MapNorth Bay, Ontario
Burial
Google MapSt John's Cemetery
Plot 190 Grave 1

Harvard 3224

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

YouTube Harvard Advanced Trainer

Wkikpedia Wikipedia Harvard Advanced Trainer

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

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

Harvard Mk.II 3224

Category A damage on 1 April 1942 while with No. 14 Service Flying Training School at RCAF Station Aylmer, Ontario. Crashed near Lakeview, Ontario. Pilot Officer J.K. McLean and Leading Aircraftman G.L. Kirk killed.

1941-07-08 Taken on Strength 2019-08-20
1942-April-01 Accident: 14 Service Flying Training School Loc: Lakeview Ontario Names: Kirk | Mclean
1942-05-07 Struck off Strength 2019-08-20

14 SFTS (14 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.

SFTS14 Aylmer ON

For More Information on RCAF Station Aylmer see here

RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - RCAF Aylmer ON

RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field St Thomas ON

RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field Tilsonburg ON

General 14 SFTS Aylmer ON History

Museum Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum - 14 SFTS Aylmer ON

SFTS 14 Moved from Aylmer ON to Kingston ON 14 August 1944

For More Information on RCAF Station Kingston see here

RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - RCAF Station Kingston ON

RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field Ganaoque ON

RCAF Roundel RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field Sandhurst ON

© Canadian Warplane Heritage 2024

To search on any page:
PC — Ctrl-F
Mac — ⌘-F
Mobile — or …