Cameron, Donald Arnott (Sergeant)

Killed in Flying Accident 1942-October-09

Sergeant Donald Arnott Cameron RCAF

Birth Date: 1922-February-19

Born:

Howard Stephen & Bessie Jean Cameron

Home: Winnipeg, Manitoba (parents)

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: Unknown

Service

RCAF

Unit

7 AOS- Air Observer School

Base

RCAF Stn. Portage la Prairie, Manitoba

Rank

Sergeant

Position

Sergeant

Service Numbers

R/119790

Home
Google MapWinnipeg, Manitoba (parents)
Final Burial
Google MapElmwood Cemetery
Lot 599 Sec 13 Grave 1

7 Air Observers School, Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Sergeants Cameron, T.A. Botterill, LACs Ernest Hartland (RAF), and Charles Henry White (RAF) were engaged in a navigation exercise and were killed when Anson 6523 hit a tree and crashed three miles south-east of Darlingford, Manitoba killing all aboard.

The senor pilot, Sergeant Thomas Ala Botterill was engaged in some un-authorized low level flying at the time of the accident.

Killed includes Cameron: Sergeant Thomas Ala Botterill RCAF R/118096 Senior Pilot KIFA Mountain View Cemetery Vancouver BC Abray. Block 5. Plot 6. Lot 3. LAC Ernest Hartland RAF KIFA Hillside Cemetery Portage-la- Prairie : Lot 366 Block 2. Grave 2. LAC Charles Henry White RAF KIFA Hillside Cemetery Portage-la-Prairie Lot 366. Block 2. Grave 1.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

www.findagrave.com

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Crew or Other Personnel

Anson 6523

Sergeant Thomas Aba Botterill RCAF

Sergeant Botterill, Thomas Aba (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Flying Accident
1942-October-09
Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Sergeant Donald Arnott Cameron RCAF

Sergeant Cameron, Donald Arnott (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Flying Accident
1942-October-09
Elmwood Cemetery, Hespeler Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Leading Aircraftman Ernest Hartland RAFVR

Leading Aircraftman Hartland, Ernest (RAFVR)
pilot trainee
Killed in Flying Accident
1942-October-09
Hillside Cemetery, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada

Leading Aircraftman Charles Henry White RAFVR

Leading Aircraftman White, Charles Henry (RAFVR)

Killed in Flying Accident
1942-October-09
Hillside Cemetery, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada

Anson serial: 6523

Avro Anson Mk. V
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
The Museum's Anson Mk. V was built by MacDonald Brothers in Winnipeg in 1944. It flew with No. 7 Photographic Wing and No. 414 Squadron in Ottawa on photo survey work until the late 1940s. In 1956, it was purchased by INCO and used for mineral surveying until 1980, when it was donated to the Museum. The exterior is painted in the yellow colour common to all BCATP trainers and is in its same wartime RCAF markings.

The Avro Anson was known by a number of nicknames including "Faithful Annie" or "Flying Greenhouse". It was the first aircraft to be flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force to have a retractable undercarriage, which was a comparative novelty in 1936. In 1940, a Canadian government owned company, Federal Aircraft Limited, was created in Montreal to manufacture the Anson for Canadian use. Nearly 3,000 Anson aircraft were produced and, in the early days of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), the Anson was the standard trainer for many pilots, observers (navigators), wireless operators and bomb aimers. More than 20,000 aircrew received training on the Anson. In Canadian service, the aircraft was substantially re-designed with the substitution of North American engines and many other airframe and equipment changes. Harold Skaarup web pages

unvetted Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page

YouTube Avro Anson History

YouTube Avro Anson Construction

Aircraft Images

Anson 6523

Anson Mk. I 6523

Ex RAF W2010. Winter conversion kit installed during assembly at MacDonald Brothers. To No. 2 Training Command on 27 May 1941, for use by No. 7 Air Observer School at Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Category A crash on 9 October 1942, after the aircraft struck trees during a low level flight near Darlingford, Manitoba (about 50 miles south of Portage). All 4 occupants killed.

1941-04-17 Taken on Strength MacDonald Brothers Aircraft 2019-08-20
1942-October-09 Accident: 7 Air Observer School Loc: Darlingford Manitoba Names: Botterill | Cameron | Hartland | White
1942-11-02 Struck off Strength Struck off, reduced to spares and produce 2019-08-20

Unit Desciption

7 AOS (7 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.
NO7 AOS Course

Royal Canadian Air Force RCAF.info - RCAF Station Portage la Prairie Manitoba

unvetted Source Manitoba Historical Society - Portage Airport

Museum Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum - 7 AOS History

unvetted Source University of Alberta -Souvenir History Of 7 AOS

Project 44 BCATP

unvetted Source Project 44 BCATP

YouTube YouTube - Valour Canada Aerodrome of Democracy