Victoria, British Columbia
8 Air Observer School, Ancienne Lorene, Quebec. The crew of Anson aircraft 11705 were engaged in a night air navigation exercise when they crashed on the side of a mountain nine miles north of Megantic, at Mont St Cecil, Quebec. F/Os W.G. Muir, J.D. Gillingham, Cpl. O.W. Carey, and a civilian, George E. Fedush, were also killed.
Robson, James Thomas (Flight Lieutenant)
Killed in Flying Accident 1944-October-30
Birth Date: 1918
Born:
Parents: Son of the Revd. Samuel Thomas Robson and Sarah Robson, of Victoria; husband of Ellen H. F. Robson, of Victoria.
Spouse: Husband of Ellen H. F. Robson, of Victoria.
Home: Victoria, British Columbia
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: unkown date
Service
RCAF
Unit
8 AOS- Air Observer School
Base
Ancienne Lorrette, Quebec, Canada
Rank
Flight Lieutenant
Position
Pilot
Service Numbers
J/9151
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)Crew or Other Personnel
Anson 11705
Accident Card - Avro Anson Mk. V serial:11705
This accident involved 1 aircraft on 1944-October-30. Anson V s/n 11705.
This accident involved 5 people. Carey OW, Fedush GE, Gillingham JDW, Muir WG, Robson JT
This accident had 5 fatalities. Flying Officer James David Nicol Gillingham RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:J/24231 Anson 11705, Flying Officer William Graham Muir RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:J/24212 Anson 11705, Flight Lieutenant James Thomas Robson RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:J/9151 Anson 11705, Civilian George E Fedush Killed in Flying Accident service no: Anson 11705, Corporal Orran Willard Carey RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/154799 Anson 11705
Unit Desciption
8 AOS (8 Air Observer School)
Air Observers were later called "navigators". For recruits in this stream, the training path after ITS was 8 weeks at an Air Observer School (AOS), 1 month at a Bombing & Gunnery School, and finally 1 month at a Navigation School. The Air Observer schools were operated by civilians under contract to the RCAF. For example, Nos. 7, 8, and 9 were run by CP Airlines. However, the instructors were RCAF. The basic navigation techniques throughout the war years were dead reckoning and visual pilotage, and the tools were the aeronautical chart, magnetic compass, watch, trip log, pencil, Douglas protractor, and Dalton Navigational Computer. They trained in the Avro Anson.
NO8 AOS
RCAF.info - RCAF Station L'Ancienne Lorrette QC
Wartime Heritage - Orren Carey
YouTube - Valour Canada Aerodrome of Democracy