Birth Date: 1921-January-12
Born: Carleton Place, Ontario, Canada
Son of Thomas Edward and Alice Ellen (nee Dowdall) Rathwell, of Carleton Place, Ontario
Home: Carleton Place, Ontario
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
RCAF
Unit
175 (F) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Stop At Nothing
Base
RAF Warmwell
Rank
Flight Sergeant
Position
Flight Sergeant
Service Numbers
R/82227
Flight Sergeant Rathwell had previously been employed by the Royal Bank of Canada in his hometown of Carleton Place, Ontario from September 1939 until he enlisted December 1940. He graduated from training at #6 Service Flying Training School, Dunnville, Ontario in September 1941 and posted overseas the same month, despite having been slightly injured on August 15, 1941 in an auto collision at the intersection of Highways 7 and 41
175 Squadron (Stop At Nothing) RAF Warmwell. Flight Sergeant E E Rathwell (RCAF) lost his life when Hurricane II aircraft HL 723 crashed into the English Channel while on a training flight to practice dive bombing on a Motor Torpedo Boat
The Hawker Hurricane is a single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s"“1940s that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Hurricane developed through several versions, as bomber-interceptors, fighter-bombers, and ground support aircraft in addition to fighters. Versions designed for the Navy were popularly known as the Sea Hurricane, with modifications enabling their operation from ships. Some were converted to be used as catapult-launched convoy escorts. By the end of production in July 1944, 14,487 Hurricanes had been completed in Britain and Canada.
A major manufacturer of the Hurricane was Canadian Car and Foundry at their factory in Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ontario. The facility's chief engineer, Elsie MacGill, became known as the "Queen of the Hurricanes". The initiative was commercially led rather than governmentally, but was endorsed by the British government; Hawker, having recognized that a major conflict was all but inevitable after the Munich Crisis of 1938, drew up preliminary plans to expand Hurricane production via a new factory in Canada. Under this plan, samples, pattern aircraft, and a complete set of design documents stored on microfilm, were shipped to Canada; the RCAF ordered 20 Hurricanes to equip one fighter squadron and two more were supplied to Canadian Car and Foundry as pattern aircraft but one probably did not arrive. The first Hurricane built at Canadian Car and Foundry was officially produced in February 1940. As a result, Canadian-built Hurricanes were shipped to Britain to participate in events such as the Battle of Britain. Canadian Car and Foundry (CCF) was responsible for the production of 1,451 Hurricanes. Wikipedia and Harold A Skaarup Web Page
175 Squadron (Stop At Nothing) RAF Warmwell. Flight Sergeant E E Rathwell (RCAF) lost his life when Hurricane II aircraft HL 723 crashed into the English Channel while on a training flight to practice dive bombing on a Motor Torpedo Boat
Carleton Place, Ontario
Enlisted Staff - RBC
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
www.findagrave.com
Hurricane
Wikipedia Hurricane
Hurricane - Kestrel Publications