Winnipeg, Manitoba
10 North Atlantic Squadron, Gander, Newfoundland. Digby aircraft crashed.
Pratt, Allan Gower (Pilot Officer)
Killed in Action 1941-July-26
Birth Date: 1918
Born:
Parents: Son of Thomas Gower Pratt and Anne Pratt, of Winnipeg, Manitoba; husband of Helen Margaret Pratt, of Winnipeg.
Spouse: Husband of Helen Margaret Pratt, of Winnipeg.
Home: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: unkown date
Service
RCAF
Unit
10 (BR) Sqn- Squadron
Base
Rank
Pilot Officer
Position
Pilot
Service Numbers
J/6031
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
www.findagrave.comCrew or Other Personnel
Digby 742
Accident Card - Douglas Digby Mk. I serial:742
This accident involved 1 aircraft on 1941-July-26. Douglas Digby s/n 742.
This accident involved 5 people. Crawford TJ, Hunt MS, Mather WH, Mcdavid RL, Tomsett ME
This accident had 6 fatalities. Pilot Officer Allan Gower Pratt RCAF Killed in Action service no:J/6031 Digby 742, Sergeant Mervyn Samuel Hunt RCAF Killed in Action service no:R/60720 Digby 742, Flight Lieutenant Martin Edward Tomsett RCAF Killed in Action service no:C/1069 Digby 742, Sergeant Ronald Laird McDavid RCAF Killed in Action service no:R/73032 Digby 742, Corporal Thomas James Larmour Crawford RCAF Killed in Action service no:R/65841 Digby 742, Pilot Officer William Hume Mather RCAF Killed in Action service no:J/3779 Digby 742
Digby serial: 742
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3581607) (Source Harold A Skaarup web page)
Douglas Digby Mk. I, RCAF (Serial No. 740), coded R, No. 10 (Bomber) Squadron, RCAF.
Douglas Digby Mk. I, RCAF (Serial No. 740), coded R, No. 10 (Bomber) Squadron, RCAF.
The RCAF acquired 20 Douglas Digby Mk. I in 1940. These were American twin engine B-18A Bolo bombers which served during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Digby, named after the RAF school of bombing at RAF Digby, was based on the Douglas DC-2 airframe. The RCAF Digbys were immediately issued to No. 10 Squadron to replace the squadron's Westland Wapitis, to carry out anit-submarine patrol duties. RCAF Eastern Air Command (EAC) Digbys carried out 11 attacks on U-boats. U-520 was confirmed sunk by Flying Officer F. Raymes' crew of No. 10 (BR) Squadron, on 30 October 1942, east of Newfoundland. The Digby antisubmarine role was relatively short-lived, and they were superseded in this role in 1943 by Consolidated B-24 Liberators, which had a much heavier payload and a substantially longer range which finally closed the mid-Atlantic gap. Harold Skaarup web page
Digby bomber
Wikipedia,Digby bomber
Harold A Skaarup Web PageAircraft Images
Digby 742
Digby Mk. I 742
To RCAF Station Trenton on 17 May 1940. With No. 10 (BR) Squadron, Eastern Air Command, from 17 June 1940. Operated from Gander, Newfoundland by A Flight. Category A crash at 00:40 on 26 July 1941. Had left Gander on escort of convoy WH140. Recalled when weather closed in, arrived at Gander after dark, ceiling was 300 feet and dropping. Wing struck the ground while maneuvering for fourth attempt at landing, shortly after midnight. Crew of 6 all killed, and were the first RCAF casualties to be buried in Newfoundland.1939-12-30 Taken on Strength No. 1 (E) Depot 2019-08-20
1941-July-26 Accident: 10 Squadron Loc: Rcaf Stnorth Newfoundland Names: Crawford | Hunt | Mather | Mcdavid | Tomsett
1941-10-01 Struck off Strength 2019-08-20
Unit Desciption
10 (BR) Sqn ()
Battle honours
The Second World War
NORTH-WEST ATLANTIC, 1940-1945.
Lineage
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
Government of Canada