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Coates, Richard (Civilian Radio Officer)

Killed in Flying Accident 1941-August-14

Male Head

Birth Date: unkown date (age unknown)

Service
RAF
Unit
Ferry Command- Ferry Command (RAF)
Base
Dorval, Quebec
Rank
Civilian Radio Officer
Marshal
Air Chief MarshalA/C/M
Air MarshalA/M
Air Vice MarshalA/V/M
Air CommodoreA/C
Group CaptainG/C
Wing CommanderW/C
Squadron LeaderS/L
Flight LieutenantF/L
Flying OfficerF/O
Pilot OfficerP/O
Warrant Officer 1st ClassWO1
Warrant Officer 2nd ClassWO2
Flight SergeantFS
SergeantSGT
CorporalCPL
Senior AircraftmanSAC
Leading AircraftmanLAC
Aircraftman 1st ClassAC1
Aircraftman 2nd ClassAC2
Position
Passenger
Service Numbers

Liberator AM260

Ferry Flight 1941-August-14 to 1941-August-14

(Ferry) FU (RAF) Ayr, Scotland

RAF Ferry Command, Return Ferry Service Liberator I aircraft AM 260 crashed and burned when it veered off the runway while taking-off from Heathfield Aerodrome, Ayr, Scotland for a return flight to Ferry Command Headquarters in Dorval Quebec, killing all 22 civilian aircrew and passengers:

  • (Pilot) EB Anding, American civilian, Air Transport Auxiliary
  • (Pilot) MB Dilley, American civilian
  • Pilot) AC Earl, American civilian
  • (Pilot) E Hamel, American civilian
  • (Pilot) G Hull, American civilian
  • (Pilot) JJ Kerwin, American civilian
  • (Pilot) PF Lee Jr., Air Transport Auxiliary, American civilian
  • (Pilot) JJ Moffat, Canadian civilian
  • (Pilot/Captain) Captain RC Stafford DFM, BOAC, British civilian
  • (Pilot) WL Trimble, Air Transport Auxiliary, American civilian
  • (Pilot) EW Watson, American civilian
  • (Pilot) MJ Wetzel, Air Transport Auxiliary, American civilian
  • (Radio Officer) R Coates, Canadian civilian
  • (Radio Officer) JP Culbert, British civilian
  • (Radio Officer) RA Duncan, Canadian civilian
  • (Radio Officer) WFJ Goddard, Canadian civilian
  • (Radio Officer) DN Hannant, Canadian civilian
  • (Radio Officer) JJ MacDonald, Canadian civilian
  • (Radio Officer) G McKay, Canadian civilian
  • (Radio Officer) A Tamblin, Canadian civilian
  • (Flight Engineer) RF Davis, American civilian
  • Canadian civilian passenger Sir Arthur Blaikie Purvis Sr., Head of the British Purchasing Commission (resident of Montreal)
  • This was the second serious crash of a Return Ferry Service LB-30 Liberator in 4 days. Please see Liberator I aircraft AM 261 for more detail and casualty list on this other tragic crash

    Combined, the two aircraft crashes were a significant blow to the ability of Ferry Command to effectively conduct operations

    These two events may have been the inspiration for the plot device that put the actors into Ferry Command Hudson aircraft in the Warner Brothers propaganda movie on the RCAF, "Captains of the Clouds" being filmed in Canada at the time the crashes occurred

    Ocean Bridge, The History of RAF Ferry Command by Carl A Christie pages 310-11

    The Liberator in Royal Air Force and Commonwealth Service by James D Oughton with John Hamlin and Andrew Thomas pages 33,115

    General [Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...

    Crashed and burned on takeoff during operation for Return Ferry Service. Veered off runway across the grass and past the control tower, struck a small building and then an embankment. It then plunged over the embankment to the railway line, where it burst into flames. All onboard killed.

    Killed (civilians): (Pilot) EB Anding (USA), (Pilot) MB Dilley (USA), (Pilot) AC Earl (USA), (Pilot) E Hamel (USA), (Pilot) G Hull (USA), (Pilot) JJ Kerwin (USA), (Pilot) PF Lee Jr (USA), (Pilot) JJ Moffat (Can), (Pilot) Captain RC Stafford (BOAC)(UK), (Pilot) WL Trimble (USA), (Pilot) EW Watson (USA), (Pilot) MJ Wetzel (USA), (Radio Officer) R Coates (Can), (Radio Officer) JP Culbert (UK), (Radio Officer) RA Duncan (Can), (Radio Officer) WFJ Goddard (Can), (Radio Officer) DN Hannant (Can), (Radio Officer) JJ MacDonald (Can), (Radio Officer) G McKay (Can), (Radio Officer) A Tamblin (Can), (Flight Engineer) RF Davis (USA) (who was also a USN Reserve Pilot) and civilian passenger AB Purvis (Can), the Head of the British Purchasing Commission.

    Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

    Find-A-Grave.com Finadagrave.com

    Burial
    Google MapAyr Cemetery
    Section R 1931 Division Collective Grave 2750-2763

    Liberator AM260

    Consolidated Liberator B-24 / F-7

    (DND Photos via James Craik) (Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)
    Consolidated Liberator G.R. Mk. VIII, RCAF (Serial No. 11130) ex-USAAF Consolidated (Vultee) B-24L Liberator USAAF (44-50154)
    ex-RAF (Serial No. 5009), ex-Indian Air Force (Serial No. HE773).
    Currently preserved in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum Ottawa Ontario.

    The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber flown by the RCAF during the Second Word War. It was designed with a shoulder-mounted, high aspect ratio Davis wing which gave the Liberator a high cruise speed, long range and the ability to carry a heavy bomb load. Early RAF Liberators were the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean as a matter of routine. In comparison with its contemporaries the B-24 was relatively difficult to fly and had poor low speed performance; it also had a lower ceiling compared with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Of the roughly 18,500 B-24s built in the USA during the war, 148 were flown by the RCAF on long range anti-submarine patrols, with the B-24 serving an instrumental role in closing the Mid-Atlantic gap in the Battle of the Atlantic. The RCAF also flew a few B-24s post war as transports.

    Roughly half of all (RAF) Liberator crews in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theatre were Canadian by the end of the war. John Muir of Vancouver flew the longest mission of the war: 24hrs, 10mins from Ceylon to Burma and back. (Kyle Hood) Harold Skaarup web page


    YouTube Liberator bomber

    Wkikpedia Wikipedia Liberator bomber

    General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

    last update: 2021-09-18 19:06:22

    Liberator AM260

    London Evening Standard August 15 1941

    Was US YB-24 s/n 40-698. Crashed and burned on takeoff from Heathfield Airfield, Ayr, Scotland after veering off runway and striking a small building and then an embankment. 22 onboard killed.

    RAF Ferry Command, Return Ferry Service Liberator I aircraft #AM 260 crashed and burned when it veered off the runway while taking-off from Heathfield Aerodrome, Ayr, Scotland for a return flight to Ferry Command Headquarters in Dorval QC, killing all 22 civilian aircrew and passengers, including (Pilot) EB Anding (USA), (Pilot) MB Dilley (USA), (Pilot) AC Earl (USA), (Pilot) E Hamel (USA), (Pilot) G Hull (USA), (Pilot) JJ Kerwin (USA), (Pilot) PF Lee Jr (USA), (Pilot) JJ Moffat (Can), (Pilot) Captain RC Stafford (BOAC)(UK), (Pilot) WL Trimble (USA), (Pilot) EW Watson (USA), (Pilot) MJ Wetzel (USA), (Radio Officer) R Coates (Can), (Radio Officer) (Radio Officer) JP Culbert (UK), (Radio Officer) RA Duncan (Can), (Radio Officer) WFJ Goddard (Can), (Radio Officer) DN Hannant (Can), (Radio Officer) JJ MacDonald (Can), (Radio Officer) G McKay (Can),(Radio Officer) A Tamblin (Can), (Flight Engineer) RF Davis (USA) (who was also a USN Reserve Pilot) and civilian passenger AB Purvis (Can), the Head of the British Purchasing Commission (resident of Montreal) (marks www.rafcommands.com).

    This was the second serious crash of a Return Ferry Service LB-30 Liberator in 4 days. Please see Anderson, JJ for details and casualty list on crash of Liberator I aircraft #AM 261. Combined, the two aircraft crashes were a significant blow to the ability of Ferry Command to conduct operations.

    These crashes may have been the inspiration for the plot device that puts the actors into Ferry Command Hudsons in the Warner Brothers propaganda movie on the RCAF, "Captains of the Clouds" then being filmed in Canada.


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