Cuthbertson, James Brown
Killed in Flying Accident 1945-01-09
Birth Date: 1921
Born:
Son of George and Susan Forbes Nicolson Cuthbertson, of Bellahouston, Glasgow, Scotland.
Home:
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
RAFVR
Unit
5 OTU- Operational Training Unit
Base
Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada
Rank
Sergeant
Position
Sergeant
Service Numbers
1369063
First Burial
Ottawa Memorial, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
www.findagrave.com
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)This incident involved multiple aircraft:
- Liberator B. Mk. VI Serial: KH173
All the above aircraft in the above list are referenced in this report.
Liberator KH173
Consolidated Liberator B-24 / F-7
Consolidated Liberator G.R. Mk. VIII, RCAF (Serial No. 11130) ex-USAAF Consolidated (Vultee) B-24L Liberator USAAF (44-50154)
ex-RAF (Serial No. 5009), ex-Indian Air Force (Serial No. HE773).
Currently preserved in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum Ottawa Ontario.
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber flown by the RCAF during the Second Word War. It was designed with a shoulder-mounted, high aspect ratio Davis wing which gave the Liberator a high cruise speed, long range and the ability to carry a heavy bomb load. Early RAF Liberators were the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean as a matter of routine. In comparison with its contemporaries the B-24 was relatively difficult to fly and had poor low speed performance; it also had a lower ceiling compared with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Of the roughly 18,500 B-24s built in the USA during the war, 148 were flown by the RCAF on long range anti-submarine patrols, with the B-24 serving an instrumental role in closing the Mid-Atlantic gap in the Battle of the Atlantic. The RCAF also flew a few B-24s post war as transports.
Roughly half of all (RAF) Liberator crews in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theatre were Canadian by the end of the war. John Muir of Vancouver flew the longest mission of the war: 24hrs, 10mins from Ceylon to Burma and back. (Kyle Hood) Harold Skaarup web page
Liberator bomber
Wikipedia Liberator bomber 
Harold A Skaarup Web Page 5 OTU (5 Operational Training Unit)
The Operational Training Unit (OTU) was the last stop for aircrew trainees. They spent 8 to 14 weeks learning to fly operational aircraft (Hawker Hurricane or Fairey Swordfish, e.g.). The instructors had experience in actual operations, and often were posted to OTUs after their operational tour.
RCAF.Info Liberator KH173
Liberator B. Mk. VI KH173
Supplied by RAF for use at No. 5 Operational Training Unit, Boundary Bay, BC. Coded "AZ". Failed to return from training flight on 9 January 1945. Later found to have crashed at sea off Bell Island (about 10 miles north of Port Hardy, on Vancouver Island). All 11 crew missing, presumed killed.1944-09-06 Taken on Strength 2022-02-07
1945-January-09 Accident: 5 Operational Training Unit Loc: Port Hardy British Columbia Names: Burr | Bustable | Cecksey | Cuthbertsen | Mergans | Mitchell | Simpson | Snelling | Spence | Stead | Trickey
1945-02-14 Struck off Strength 2022-02-07