Wills, Harold Alexander
Killed in Flying Accident 1943-11-28
Birth Date: 1902-July-27
Born:
Son of Harvey and Elizabeth Wills; husband of Edythe Gladys Wills, of Kitchener, Ontario.
Home: Kitchener, Ontario
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
RCAF
Unit
45 Group (RAF)
Base
Rank
Flight Lieutenant
Position
Flight Lieutenant
Service Numbers
C/5013
Home
Kitchener, Ontario
First Burial
Ottawa War Memorial, Ottawa, Ontario
Harold "˜Hal' Wills was a thirty-seven-year-old schoolteacher, with a wife and young daughter when WWII began; he was forty-one when it ended for him, on 28 Nov 43.
He was well beyond the maximum age for RCAF pilots (27) and for other aircrew (33), but his wish to serve saw him halt his study toward a degree and enroll in special courses in air navigation, astronomy and spherical trigonometry, resulting in his acceptance into the RCAF in May of 1941 to become a Navigator Instructor in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). He graduated from No. 1 Air Navigation School for instructors with the rank of Flying Officer.
Harold was an extremely popular instructor at No. 1 Air Observer School (AOS) at Malton, ON and at NO. 4 AOS at London, ON where he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and named a Senior Instructor. In September of 1943 he went on a special course at No. 31 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Debert, NS flying on anti-submarine patrols in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and environs.
Three weeks later Harold was sent to Montreal for a delivery flight with Ferry Command to study transatlantic navigation. Weeks of training and preparation ended on 09 November and Harold was crewed up for the delivery of a B-25 Mitchell to the UK. The crew comprised:
- Lieutenant Erik Bertil Palm, Royal Norwegian Air Force (Pilot)
- Sergeant Eric Hanway Swanson, RAF (Co-pilot)
- Flight Lieutenant Harold Wills, RCAF (Navigator)
- Pilot Officer Gerald Raymond Styles, RCAF (Wireless Operator)
They flew from Mount Joli, QC to Goose Bay, Labrador on 18 Nov in Mitchell II serial no. FV990 (USAAF serial 42-87155) and were stranded there by weather until the 23rd when they flew to Bluie West-1 base in Greenland. November 27 saw the crew take off from Bluie West-1 for Reykjavik, Iceland; an hour after take-off Gerald Styles, the wireless operator, called for a routine radio signal position check.
Nothing further was heard from them. The RAF in Iceland initiated a search but no trace of the missing Mitchell or crew was ever found.
With info from 'Ocean Bridge' by Carl A. Christie
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
www.findagrave.comMitchell FV990
North American Mitchell B-25 B-25D B-25J
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in every theater of World War II, and after the war ended, many remained in service, operating across four decades. Produced in numerous variants, nearly 10,000 B-25s were built.
The North American B-25 Mitchell was flown by the RCAF during and after the Second World War. The RCAF flew the B-25 Mitchell for training during the war and continued flying operations after the war, in Canada with most of 162 Mitchells received. The first B-25s had originally been diverted to Canada from RAF orders. These included one Mitchell Mk. I, 42 Mitchell Mk. IIs, and 19 Mitchell Mk. IIIs. No 13 (P) Squadron was formed unofficially at RCAF Station Rockcliffe in May 1944 and flew Mitchell Mk. IIs on high-altitude aerial photography sorties. No. 5 OTU (Operational Training Unit) at Boundary Bay, British Columbia and Abbotsford, British Columbia, operated the B-25D Mitchell in a training role together with B-24 Liberators for Heavy Conversion as part of the BCATP. The RCAF retained the Mitchell until October 1963.
No. 418 (Auxiliary) Squadron received its first Mitchell Mk. IIs in January 1947. It was followed by No. 406 (Auxiliary), which flew Mitchell Mk. IIs and Mk. IIIs from April 1947 to June 1958. No. 418 Operated a mix of Mk. IIs and Mk. IIIs until March 1958. No. 12 Squadron of Air Transport Command also flew Mitchell Mk. IIIs along with other types from September 1956 to November 1960. In 1951, the RCAF received an additional 75 B-25Js from USAF stocks to make up for attrition and to equip various second-line units..Wikipedia and Harold Skaarup web page
Mitchell Bomber
Wikipedia Mitchell Bomber 
Harold A Skaarup Web Page