Chapman, Donald Harold (Sergeant)

Killed in Action 1942-September-10

Sergeant Donald Harold Chapman RCAF

Birth Date: 1923

Born:

Parents: Aubrey Ora & Pearl Lillian Chapman

Spouse:

Home: Moncton, New Brunswick (parents)

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: unkown date

Service

RCAF

Unit

14 OTU- Operational Training Unit (RAF)

Base

RAF Cottesmore

Rank

Sergeant

Position

Observer

Service Numbers

R/113527

Home

Moncton, New Brunswick (parents)

Target

Dusseldorf Germany

Temporary Burial

Parish Cemetery At Marl, Germany

Remains were later exhumed from this location and reburied

Final Burial

Reichswald Forest War Cemetery
Coll grave 17 E 15-18

Took off from Cottesmore at 20:20 in Hampden Mk I (Sqn code PL-A Bomber Command) on an operation to Dusseldorf Germany.

Aircraft failed to return from Dusseldorf raid 1942-09-10.

Killed: Flight Sergeant William Oswald Anderson RCAF R/105561 KIA Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Collective grave 17. E. 15-18. Sergeant Donald Harold Chapman RCAF R/113527 KIA Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Coll. grave 17. E. 15-18. Sergeant Walter David Deatherage RCAF R/139948 KIA Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Coll. grave 17. E. 15-18. Flight Sergeant John Carl Kerr RCAF R/99687 pilot KIA Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Coll. grave 17. E. 15-18.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Crew or Other Personnel

Hampden L4131

Flight Sergeant William Oswald Anderson RCAF

Flight Sergeant Anderson, William Oswald (RCAF)
Wireless Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1942-September-10
Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Germany

Sergeant Donald Harold Chapman RCAF

Sergeant Chapman, Donald Harold (RCAF)
Observer
Killed in Action
1942-September-10
Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Germany

Sergeant Walter David Deatherage RCAF

Sergeant Deatherage, Walter David (RCAF)
Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1942-September-10
Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Germany

Flight Sergeant John Carl Kerr RCAF

Flight Sergeant Kerr, John Carl (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Action
1942-September-10
Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Germany

Hampden serial: L4131

(RCAF Photo via Chris Charland)(Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)
Handley Page Hampden (Serial No. P5428), of No. 32 Operational Training Unit at RCAF Patricia Bay, British Columbia, in the torpedo-bomber training role between May 1942 and February 1944.

Handley Page developed a modern stressed-skin mid-wing monoplane, powered by Bristol Pegasus radial air cooled engines, with its first flight in 1936. It had the most advanced wings available at the time, giving it a remarkably low landing speed of 73 mph for an aircraft of its size, with a top speed of 265 mph. The Hampden had a short, narrow but tall main fuselage with a very slender tail unit. This configuration led to the nicknames "Flying Panhandle" and "Flying Suitcase". At the end of the war, no complete or partial Hampden aircraft were retained for museum display.

The Hampden served in the early stages of the war, bearing the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the first night raid on Berlin and in the first 1000-bomber raid on Cologne. In Canada, Hampdens were built by six companies that formed Associated Aircraft. There were three in Ontario and three in Quebec, hence they were identified as the Ontario Group and Quebec Group. They supplied all the the components to the two assembly plants. The Ontario Group's assembly plant was at the Malton Airport, while the Quebec group's assembly plant was at the St. Hubert Airport. Canadian Museum of Flight and Harold A Skaarup web page

YouTube Handley Page Hampden in Flight