Cunningham, Stanley Oswald
Killed in Flying Accident 1943-04-19
Birth Date: 1923-July-19
Born: Toronto Ontario
Oswald & Ellen B. Cunningham
Home: Toronto, Ontario (parents)
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
RCAF
Unit
9 SFTS- Service Flying Training School
Base
RCAF Stn. Centralia, Ontario
Rank
Flight Sergeant
Position
Flight Sergeant
Service Numbers
R/127903
First Burial
Prospect Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario
Took off from Centralia to complete flying sequences 13, 14, 15, 16, 21A. and 29.
Aircraft crashed three miles north -east of Seaforth, Ontario.
Killed:Flight Sergeant Stanley Oswald Cunningham, RCAF R/127903 KIFA Prospect Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario, Sec. 21. Lot 828.
LAF Geoffrey William Tarbath RAF student pilot KIFA Exeter Cemetery, Exeter, Ontario, Lot 254. Div. 6. Grave 1.
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
www.findagrave.comThis incident involved multiple aircraft:
- Anson Mk. II Serial: 7353
All the above aircraft in the above list are referenced in this report.
Avro Anson
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
Avro Anson History9 SFTS (9 Service Flying Training School)
Graduates of the EFTS "learn-to-fly" program went on a Service Flying Training School (SFTS) for 16 weeks. For the first 8 weeks the trainee was part of an intermediate training squadron; for the next 6 weeks an advanced training squadron and for the final 2 weeks training was conducted at a Bombing & Gunnery School. The Service schools were military establishments run by the RCAF or the RAF.
There were two different types of Service Flying Training Schools. Trainees in the fighter pilot stream went to an SFTS like No. 14 Aylmer, where they trained in the North American Harvard or North American Yale. Trainees in the bomber, coastal or transport pilot stream went to an SFTS like No. 5 Brantford where they learned multi-engine technique in an Airspeed Oxford, Avro Anson or Cessna Crane.
RCAF.Info - RCAF Station Summerside PEI
403 Squadron Blog - 9 STFS Summerside
RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field Mount Pleasant PEI
RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field Wellington PEI
6 July 1942 School moved to Centralia, Ontario
RCAF.info - RCAF Station Centralia Ontario
RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field Grand Bend Ontario
RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field St Joseph Ontario
June 1945 - School was disbanded
Anson 7353
Anson Mk. II 7353
Delivered to storage. Issued from storage on 2 November 1942, for use by No. 9 Service Flying Training School at RCAF Station Centralia, Ontario. Still with this School when it crashed on 19 April 1943, stalled while manoeuvering to avoid a collision in the low flying area. Instructor Flight Sergeant S.O. Cunningham and RAF student Leading Aircraftman G.W. Tarbeth killed. To No. 6 Repair Depot on 27 April 1943 for scrapping. Note that RCAF records show request to scrap dated 18 April 1943, but Commonwealth War Graves Commission records Cunningham's date of death as 19 April 1943.1942-04-13 Taken on Strength No. 1 Training Command 2019-08-20
1943-April-19 Accident: 9 Service Flying Training School Loc: Seaforth Ontario Names: Cunningham | Tarbath
1943-05-07 Struck off Strength Struck off, reduced to spares and produce 2019-08-20