Mays, Bernard Dennant
Killed in Flying Accident 1945-01-30
Birth Date: 1923-September-15
Born:
Son of Norman J. Mays and Laura H. Mays, of Gt. Yarmouth, Norfolk, England.
Home:
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
RAFVR
Unit
19 SFTS- Service Flying Training School
Base
Vulcan, Alberta, Canada
Rank
Leading Aircraftman
Position
Leading Aircraftman
Service Numbers
1625875
First Burial
Vulcan Cemetery, Vulcan, Alberta, Canada
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
www.findagrave.com
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)This incident involved multiple aircraft:
- Anson Mk. II Serial: 7399
All the above aircraft in the above list are referenced in this report.
Avro Anson
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
Harold A Skaarup Web Page 
Avro Anson History19 SFTS (19 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.
For More Information on RCAF Station Vulcan see here
RCAF.Info - RCAF Station Vulcan AB
RCAF.Info - Relief Landing Field Ensign AB
RCAF.Info - Relief Landing Field Champion AB
Vintage Wings - Ghosts Of Southern Alberta Anson 7399
Anson Mk. II 7399
Equipped with dual control brakes. Delivered to storage. Transferred to No. 4 Training Command on 25 June 1942. To No. 2 Air Command on 1 December 1944. With No. 19 Service Flying Training School at Vulcan, Alberta when it received Category A damage on 30 January 1945. Pilot Officer J.A. Clarke and Leading Aircraftman B.D. Mays, both RAF, killed. To No. 10 Repair Depot for write off action on 8 March 1945. Retained in whole state after being written off.1942-05-11 Taken on Strength No. 1 Training Command 2019-08-20
1943-August-15 Accident: 34 Service Flying Training School Loc: Mcleod Alberta Names: Bostock | Jones | Malcolm
1945-January-30 Accident: 19 Service Flying Training School Loc: Carmangay Alberta Names: Clarke | Mays
1945-04-10 Struck off Strength 2019-08-20