Percy Keast Rank: Sergeant Status: Killed in Flying Accident 1941-07-25

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"A" Able flying through the Eiffel Tower? (although this event likely happened, this photograph is likely fake.) It is signed by the late Bill Bryant RAF who was the navigator of that aircraft piloted by Bob Boorman RCAF. The caption reads "This Stars Stripes photograph was taken on 14 September 1944 and shows a Mosquito Mk XIII of 409 Squadron RCAF. Pilot - W/O Bob Boorman RCAF Navigator F/S Bill Bryant RAF Flying through the Eiffel Tower."
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Keast, Percy (Sergeant)

Killed in Flying Accident 1941-July-25

Birth Date: 1917 (age 24)

Born: Cornwall Unitary Authority, Cornwall, England

Son of Percy and Florence Hilda Keast, of Cornwall

Home: Cornwall, Ontario

Service
RAFVR

Unit
ODAF- Overseas Air Delivery Flight (RAF)

Base
Dorval, Quebec

Rank

Sergeant

Marshal
Air Chief Marshal	A/C/M
Air Marshal	A/M
Air Vice Marshal	A/V/M
Air Commodore	A/C
Group Captain	G/C
Wing Commander	W/C
Squadron Leader	S/L
Flight Lieutenant	F/L
Flying Officer	F/O
Pilot Officer	P/O
Warrant Officer 1st Class	WO1
Warrant Officer 2nd Class	WO2
Flight Sergeant	FS
Sergeant	SGT
Corporal	CPL
Senior Aircraftman	SAC
Leading Aircraftman	LAC
Aircraftman 1st Class	AC1
Aircraftman 2nd Class	AC2

Position
Navigator

Service Numbers
1250023

Hudson Mk. V (long range) AE640

Ferry Flight 1941-July-25 to 1941-July-25

Overseas Aircraft Delivery Flight, RAF Ferry Command, Dorval, Quebec. Hudson V aircraft AE 640 on a flight out of Gander, Newfoundland to Prestwick, Scotland struck high ground in poor weather conditions with rain and low cloud and crashed on the south-east side of the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland

Pilot, Flight Lieutenant KF Arnold (RAF)(Can), Navigator Sergeant P Keast (RAFVR) and Canadian civilian Radio Officer W Bratherton Civilian Technical Corps (CTC)

The Hudson had been intended for use by RAF Coastal Command 217 Squadron (Woe to the Unwary) based at St Eval, Cornwall

Ocean Bridge, The History of RAF Ferry Command by Carl A Christie pages 246, 309, 354n86

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

General OADF Hudson AE640 Fl/Lt. Arnold, California USA, accident, RAF St. Eval

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Find-A-Grave.com

Canada Primary Source Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Home

Cornwall, Ontario

Crew on Hudson Mk. V (long range) AE640

Flight Lieutenant Arnold, Keith Fergus (RAF)
Pilot
Killed in Flying Accident
Age: 30
St Eval Churchyard, Cornwall, UK - Row 2 Grave 12

Civilian Radio Officer Bratherton, Wilfred (CTC (USA))
Wireless Operator
Killed in Flying Accident
Age: 24
Kilkerran Cemetery, Kilkerran Road, Campbeltown, UK - Division 4 Grave 588

Sergeant Keast, Percy (RAFVR)
Navigator
Killed in Flying Accident
Age: 24

Lockheed Hudson A-28 A-29 AT-18

Lockheed Hudson
Source National Air Force Museum of Canada.

The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force (RAF) shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter. The Hudson served throughout the war, mainly with Coastal Command, but also in transport and training roles, as well as delivering agents into occupied France. They were also used extensively with the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) anti-submarine squadrons. National Air Force Museum of Canada.

YouTube Hudson