Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Pilot Officer Sparks and Flying Officer L. Bauer (RAAF) were engaged in aerobatics when their Harvard aircraft FH 128 went into a dive at 3,000 feet. The aircraft did not come out of the dive and both airmen were killed when they crashed six miles east of Stavely, Alberta.
Sparks, Wilmot Arthur (Pilot Officer)
Killed in Flying Accident 1944-August-28
Birth Date: 1913
Born:
Parents: Son of Arthur Benjamin and Mary C. Sparks; brother of William Walter Sparks, of Saskatoon.
Spouse:
Home: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: unkown date
Service
RCAF
Unit
15 SFTS- Service Flying Training School
Base
RCAF Stn. Claresholm, Alberta
Rank
Pilot Officer
Position
Pilot
Service Numbers
J/44567
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Finadagrave.com
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)Crew or Other Personnel
Harvard FH128
Accident Card - North American Harvard Mk. IIB serial:FH128
This accident involved 1 aircraft on 1944-August-28. Harvard IIB s/n FH128.
This accident involved 2 people. Bauer LWA, Sparks WA
This accident had 2 fatalities. Pilot Officer Wilmot Arthur Sparks RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:J/44567 Harvard FH128, Flying Officer Louis Walter Allan Bauer RAAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:437247 Harvard FH128
Unit Desciption
15 SFTS (15 Service Flying Training School)
Graduates of the EFTS "learn-to-fly" program went on a Service Flying Training School (SFTS) for 16 weeks. For the first 8 weeks the trainee was part of an intermediate training squadron; for the next 6 weeks an advanced training squadron and for the final 2 weeks training was conducted at a Bombing & Gunnery School. The Service schools were military establishments run by the RCAF or the RAF.
There were two different types of Service Flying Training Schools. Trainees in the fighter pilot stream went to an SFTS like No. 14 Aylmer, where they trained in the North American Harvard or North American Yale. Trainees in the bomber, coastal or transport pilot stream went to an SFTS like No. 5 Brantford where they learned multi-engine technique in an Airspeed Oxford, Avro Anson or Cessna Crane.
SFTS15 Patch
For More Information on RCAF Station Claresholm see here
RCAF.info - RCAF Station Claresholm AB
RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field Woodhouse AB
RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field Champion AB
15 SFTS Claresholm History
Vintage Wings - Ghosts Of Southern Alberta
BCMC Claresholm History
Bomber Command Museum of Canada - 14 SFTS Claresholm AB
Wings Over Claresholm Alberta Video
Project 44 BCATP
YouTube - Wings over Claresholm