Skinner, John
Killed in Flying Accident 1945-05-23
Birth Date: 1925
Born:
Son of William Francis and Alice Skinner, of Winchfield, Hampshire, England.
Home:
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
RAFVR
Unit
23 EFTS- Elementary Flying Training School
Base
Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada
Rank
Leading Aircraftman
Position
Leading Aircraftman
Service Numbers
1850391
First Burial
Yorkton Cemetery, Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
www.findagrave.com
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)This incident involved multiple aircraft:
- Cornell Cornell III Serial: 14405
All the above aircraft in the above list are referenced in this report.
Fairchild Cornell
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
In early 1942, an agreement was signed between the Canadian Government and Fairchild Aircraft, which licenced Fleet Aircraft of Fort Erie, Ontario to construct the PT-26 Cornell in Canada. The first 800 Cornells used by the RCAF were supplied from Fairchild, until production commenced at Fort Erie in November 1942. By the end of the war in 1945, 2,853 Cornells had been built by Fleet - 1,565 for the RCAF and 1,288 for the RAF.
PT-26 Cornells were flown at many of the Elementary Flying Training Schools (EFTS) of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, where they replaced the Fleet Finch and the de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane trainers. After the Second World War, many Cornells were sold to the civilian market, but some were retained by the RCAF, where they were finally retired in 1948.CWPHM
Wikipedia Cornell Trainer 
Harold A Skaarup Web Page 23 EFTS (23 Elementary Flying Training School)
An Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) gave a trainee 50 hours of basic flying instruction on a simple trainer like the De Havilland Tiger Moth, Fleet Finch, or Fairchild Cornell over 8 weeks.Elementary schools were operated by civilian flying clubs under contract to the RCAF and most of the instructors were civilians. For example, No. 12 EFTS Goderich was run by the Kitchener-Waterloo Flying Club and the County of Huron Flying Club.The next step for a pilot was the Service Flying Training School.
Formed at Davidson, Saskatchewan on 1942-10
More Information on RCAF Station Davidson can be found here
RCAF.Info - RCAF Station Davidson Saskatchewan
RCAF.Info - Relief Landing Field Davidson (West) Saskatchewan
Vintage Wings - Ghosts of Saskatchewan
Moved to Yorkton, Saskatchewan 1945-06-29
More Information on RCAF Station Yorkton can be found here
RCAF.Info - RCAF Station Yorkton SK
RCAF.Info - Relief Landing Field Sturdee SK
RCAF.Info - Relief Landing Field Rhein SK
YouTube - Abandoned Saskatchewan
Unit was disbanded on 1945-09-15.
Project 44 BCATPCornell 14405
Cornell Cornell III 14405
With No. 23 Elementary Flying Training School at when it crashed on 23 May 1945. Leading Aircraftman J. Skinner, RAF killed.1943-06-03 Taken on Strength 2022-02-07
1945-May-23 Accident: 23 Elementary Flying Training School Loc: Orcadia Saskatchewan Names: Skinner
1945-08-06 Struck off Strength 2022-02-07