Cheney, Norman James (Sergeant)

Killed in Flying Accident 1942-November-12

Sergeant Norman James Cheney RNZAF

Birth Date: 1909

Born:

Bertram & Charlotte Letty Cheney, of Northampton, England

Home:

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: Unknown

Service

RNZAF

Unit

45 Group (RAF)

Base

RAF Stn. Bermuda

Rank

Sergeant

Position

Sergeant

Service Numbers

414862

Memorial Location

Ottawa War Memorial
Panel 2 Column 1

Catalina FP-107 took off from RCAF Stn. Dorval in company with four other Catalinas on the first leg (to Bermuda) of a Ferry Command delivery flight.

This aircraft crashed into the sea and caught fire near the CNR wharf at Pirate Harbour, Mulgrave, Capr Breton Island Nova Scotia.

Crew: Captain Robert Hugh Malcolm Sandeman, RAF Ferry Command, civilian captain of the aircraft. Pilot Officer John Stuart Mowat, RAF, First Officer. Pilot Officer Stanley Frasier Fairbairn, RCAF, R103533 Nav. Mr. Devereux Lionel de Bretigny, RAF Ferry Command, civilian radio operator. Sergeant Norman James Cheney RNZAF, NZ414862 Radio Operator. Sergeant George Harold Salt, RAF 569399 Flight Engineer. The only survivors of the crash were Mowat and Salt who were rescued from the water.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Findagrave.com

www.findagrave.com

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Crew or Other Personnel

Canso FP209

Sergeant Norman James Cheney RNZAF

Sergeant Cheney, Norman James (RNZAF)
Wireless Operator
Killed in Flying Accident
1942-November-12
Ottawa War Memorial, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Civilian Devereux Lionel Doria DeBretigny RAF

Civilian DeBretigny, Devereux Lionel Doria (RAF)
Radio Officer
Killed in Flying Accident
1942-November-12
Runnymede Memorial Surrey, UK

Pilot Officer Stanley Fraser Fairbairn RCAF

Pilot Officer Fairbairn, Stanley Fraser (RCAF)
Navigator
Killed in Flying Accident
1942-November-12
Ottawa War Memorial, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Pilot Officer John Stuart Mowat RAF

Pilot Officer Mowat, John Stuart (RAF)
2nd Pilot
Survived
1942-November-12
cemetery unknown

Flying Officer George Harold Salt RAF

Flying Officer Salt, George Harold (RAF)
Flight Engineer
Survived
1942-November-12
cemetery unknown

Civilian Robert Hugh Malcolm Sandeman RAF

Civilian Sandeman, Robert Hugh Malcolm (RAF)
Pilot (Captain)
Killed in Flying Accident
1942-November-12
Runnymede Memorial Surrey, UK

Mission

Canso FP209

Ferry Flight 1942-November-11 to 1942-November-12

() Ferry Command (RAF) Bermuda

RAF Ferry Command. Canso I aircraft FP 209, flying out of Bermuda, crashed in the Strait of Canso, catching fire near the CNR wharf at Pirate Harbour, Mulgrave, Nova Scotia with the loss of four of the six aircrew aboard

Pilot Officer SF Fairbairn (RCAF), Sergeant NJ Cheney (RNZAF), Canadian Civilian, DLD DeBretigny and British Civilian pilot Captain RH Sandeman, were all missing, presumed killed in this flying accident

The missing have no known grave

Pilot Officer Fairbairn and Sergeant Cheney are commemorated on the Ottawa Memorial

DLD DeBretigny and RHM Sandeman are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial

Ocean Bridge, The History of RAF Ferry Command by Carl A Christie page 315,358

unvetted Source [Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...

Canso serial: FP107

RCAF Canso A (Serial No. 9754), No. 162 Squadron, F/L David Ernest Hornell aircraft.

The Consolidated Catalina and Canso were close cousins. The Canso was the true amphibious version of the design and therefore included a conventional undercarriage to allow for either water or land use. The Canso provided more than two decades of valuable service to the RCAF. The Catalina variant came first and was produced beginning in 1935 for the United States Navy. The amphibious version, designated PBY-5A, came in service early in 1941 and the RCAF began using the aircraft on anti-submarine patrols that same year. After the Second World War, the RCAF used Cansos for search and rescue, Arctic survey missions and various transport operations. RCAF

YouTube Canso PBY