Sharp, Robert Douglas

Killed in Flying Accident 1944-08-12

Birth Date: 1924-March-30

Born:

Son of J. Douglas Sharp and Margaret Sharp, of Toronto.

Home: Toronto, Ontario

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: Unknown

Service

RCAF

Unit

4 BGS- Bombing & Gunnery School

Base

Fingal, Ontario, Canada

Rank

Sergeant

Position

Sergeant

Service Numbers

R/209421

Sergeant Hawkins and Sergeant R.D. Sharp were engaged in night flying practice and were both killed when their Anson aircraft 6276 crashed and burned two miles east of Wallacetown, Ontario.

This incident involved multiple aircraft:

  1. Anson Mk. I Serial: 6276

All the above aircraft in the above list are referenced in this report.

Avro Anson

Avro Anson Mk. V
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.
Avro_Anson_675_m.jpg image not found

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

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

YouTube Avro Anson History

YouTube Avro Anson Construction

4 BGS (4 Bomb and Gunnery School)

The Bombing and Gunnery School (B&GS) offered instruction in the techniques of bomb aiming and aerial machine gunnery to Air Observers, Bomb Aimers, and Wireless Air Gunners. These schools required large areas to accommodate their bombing and gunnery ranges, and were often located near water. The Avro Anson, Fairey Battle, Bristol Bolingbroke, and Westland Lysander were the standard aircraft used at B&GS schools.

Canada Primary Source RCAF.info - RCAF Station Fingal Ontario

Museum Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum - 4 BGS History

General RCAF Fingal Blog

Project 44 BCATP

General Project 44 BCATP

YouTube YouTube - Valour Canada Aerodrome of Democracy


Anson 6276

Anson Mk. I 6276

Ex RAF W1726. To No. 3 Training Command on 21 January 1941, noted as on loan to RAF school pending arrival of RAF Ansons. Back to Eastern Air Command on 5 November 1941. To Canada Car & Foundry for overhaul, 29 June 1943 to 10 January 1944. To No. 1 Training Command when completed, for use by No. 4 Bombing & Gunnery School at Fingal, Ontario. Category A crash at Wallacetown, Ontario (about 9 miles south-west of Fingal) on 12 August 1944.

1940-12-14 Taken on Strength Eastern Air Command 2019-08-20
1944-August-12 Accident: 4 Bomb & Gunnery School Loc: Wallacetown Names: Hawkins | Sharp
1944-09-21 Struck off Strength 2019-08-20