New Westminster, British Columbia
8 Air Observer School, Ancienne Lorette, Quebec. Two Anson aircraft collided.
Sergeant Hathaway was killed in Anson aircraft DG 893 when it was in a mid-air collison with Anson 6479 before they crashed 1,000 feet apart, eight miles south of Ancienne Lorette at St Nicholas, Quebec. FS R.H. Spurr and a civilian pilot, Mr. P. Beck, were in aircraft 6479 and were also killed. Sergeant Pilot Hathaway is buried in the Sylvan Lawn Cemetery, Greene, New York, U.S.A.
Spurr, Robert Harold (Flight Sergeant)
Killed in Flying Accident 1943-February-24
Birth Date: 1923
Born:
Parents: Son of Harold Isaac and Hattie B. Spurr, of New Westminster, British Columbia.
Spouse:
Home: New Westminster, British Columbia
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: unkown date
Service
RCAF
Unit
8 AOS- Air Observer School
Base
Ancienne Lorrette, Quebec, Canada
Rank
Flight Sergeant
Position
Pilot
Service Numbers
R/128924
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Finadagrave.com
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)
Accident Card - Avro Anson Mk. I serial:6479
This accident involved 2 aircraft on 1943-February-24. They are: Anson I s/n DG893, Anson I s/n 6479.
This accident involved 3 people. Beck P, Hathaway FR, Spurr HR
This accident had 3 fatalities. Sergeant Francis Raymond Hathaway RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/125758 Anson DG893,Flight Sergeant Robert Harold Spurr RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/128924 Anson 6479, Civilian P Beck Killed in Flying Accident service no: Anson 6479
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