Bennett, Gordon Richard
Killed in Flying Accident 1944-08-26
Birth Date: 1922
Born:
Son of Richard Charles and Eleanor B. Bennett, of South Ealing, Middlesex, England.
Home:
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
RAF
Unit
32 EFTS- Elementary Flying Training School (RAF)
Base
RCAF Stn. Bowden, Alberta
Rank
Sergeant
Position
Sergeant
Service Numbers
1802123
First Burial
Innisfail Cemetery, Innisfail, Alberta, Canada
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
www.findagrave.com
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)This incident involved multiple aircraft:
- Cornell Cornell III Serial: 14498
All the above aircraft in the above list are referenced in this report.
Fairchild Cornell
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
In early 1942, an agreement was signed between the Canadian Government and Fairchild Aircraft, which licenced Fleet Aircraft of Fort Erie, Ontario to construct the PT-26 Cornell in Canada. The first 800 Cornells used by the RCAF were supplied from Fairchild, until production commenced at Fort Erie in November 1942. By the end of the war in 1945, 2,853 Cornells had been built by Fleet - 1,565 for the RCAF and 1,288 for the RAF.
PT-26 Cornells were flown at many of the Elementary Flying Training Schools (EFTS) of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, where they replaced the Fleet Finch and the de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane trainers. After the Second World War, many Cornells were sold to the civilian market, but some were retained by the RCAF, where they were finally retired in 1948.CWPHM
Cornell Trainer
Wikipedia Cornell Trainer 
Harold A Skaarup Web Page 32 EFTS (32 Elementary Flying Training School)
An Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) gave a trainee 50 hours of basic flying instruction on a simple trainer like the De Havilland Tiger Moth, Fleet Finch, or Fairchild Cornell over 8 weeks.Elementary schools were operated by civilian flying clubs under contract to the RCAF and most of the instructors were civilians. For example, No. 12 EFTS Goderich was run by the Kitchener-Waterloo Flying Club and the County of Huron Flying Club.The next step for a pilot was the Service Flying Training School.
For more Information on RCAF Station Bowden see here
RCAF.info - RCAF Station Bowden AB
RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field Netook AB
Bomber Command Museum of Canada
Cornell 14498
Cornell Cornell III 14498
To No. 32 Elementary Flying Training School at Bowden, Alberta. Destroyed in crash at 08:45 on 26 August 1944. Wing appeared to come off in flight, probably a result of spar cracking or overloading. Came down 1 1/2 miles south and 9 miles east of town of Bowden. Instructor Sgt. G.R. Bennett, RAF and student Leading Aircraftman C.E. de Wever, a Belgian in the RAF, both killed.1943-08-03 Taken on Strength 2022-02-07
1944-August-26 Accident: 32 Elementary Flying Training School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Bennett | De Wever
1944-09-28 Struck off Strength 2022-02-07
