Fisher, Robert Frank
Killed in Flying Accident 1943-10-20
Birth Date: 1920-June-04
Born: Armstrong, North Okanagan Regional District, British Columbia, Canada
Son of Steele and Agnes Ellen (nee Hammill) Fisher, of Armstrong, British Columbia. Brother of Flying Officer William John Fisher, RCAF, who died 7 October 1943.
Home: Armstrong, British Columbia
Enlistment: Vancouver, British Columbia
Enlistment Date: 1940-10-10
Decorations: MiD
Service
RCAF
Unit
10 (B) Sqn- Squadron
Base
RCAF Stn. Gander, Newfoundland
Rank
Flight Lieutenant
Position
Flight Lieutenant
Service Numbers
J/5821
First Burial
crash site on Black Mountain, Quebec
Born in Armstrong, British Columbia; educated there; enlisted in Vancouver, 10 October 1940. Trained at No.1 ITS (graduated 27 January 1941), No.9 EFTS (graduated 17 March 1941), and No.2 SETS (graduated 16 June 1941). Had flown 1,218:25 hours to date, 303:35 operational hours (35 sorties). Fisher was pilot of the Liberator that sank U-341, 19 September 1943. Killed in crash of Liberator 3701 H on 20 October 1943 10 North Atlantic Squadron, Gander, Newfoundland. Liberator aircraft crashed. Addendum: - Mention in Despatches - No.10 (BR) Squadron (now missing) - Award effective 8 June 1944 as per London Gazette of that date and AFRO 1380/44 dated 30 June 1944. . The citation reads - "This officer has displayed exceptional ability and devotion to duty throughout his service as a pilot on anti-submarine operations. He was captain of a VLR Liberator which attacked an enemy submarine in the North Atlantic area and, despite the intensity of opposition, he pressed home the attack with such skill that the U-Boat was assessed as probably destroyed." Detail provided by H. Halliday, Orleans, Ontario.
Flight Lieutenant Fisher was BROTHER of Flying Officer WJ Fisher (RCAF) pilot who was killed in action on 354 RAF Squadron Liberator BZ 887 D in India, 1943-10-7
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
www.findagrave.comLiberator B-24D / Mk. V 3701
Transport 1943-October-20 to 1943-October-20
10 (BR) Sqn (RCAF) RCAF Station Gander
10 North Atlantic (BR) Squadron, Gander, Newfoundland. Liberator V aircraft 3701 H flying from Gander, Newfoundland to Mont Joli, Quebec was redirected to Dorval, Quebec due to poor weather conditions at Mont Joli. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft before it crashed and burned on the west side of the 2,500 foot foothill of Black Mountain, Quebec. A search at the time of the crash failed to find the crash site. The wreckage of the aircraft and remains of the 24 casualties was not located until 1946-06-20. A Memorial Cairn was erected on the Black Mountain crash site in memory of those who lost their lives there
Flight Crew: Sergeant WG MacNaughton MiD (RCAF), Flight Lieutenant JA Poirier (RCAF), Flying Officer SA Sanderson AFM (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 2 JA Barabonoff (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 1 J Silverstein MiD (RCAF), Pilot Officer RW MacDonald MiD (RCAF)
Passengers: Flight Lieutenant RF Fisher MiD (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 1 W Howlett (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 1 FE Jenkins (RCAF), Cpl HD Beattie (RCAF), Cpl RD Marr (RCAF), Cpl HK Hambly (RCAF), Cpl AC Johnston (RCAF), Pilot Officer J Lamont MiD (RCAF), Leading Aircraftman CL Dynes (RCAF), Leading Aircraftman GR Patterson (RCAF), Leading Aircraftman AJ Radcliffe (RCAF), Leading Aircraftman EW Read (RCAF)(USA), Sergeant FH Elliott (RCAF)(USA), Sergeant EM Finn (RCAF), Leading Aircraftman JAJP Veilleux (RCAF), FS RF Ware (RCAF), Sergeant SA Wood (RCAF) and Flying Officer JS Johnston MiD (RCAF) were all killed in this flying accident
All were buried at the crash site where the cairn stands in their honour until 1985, when the crews remains were exhumed and moved to a cemetery St. Donat, Quebec due to vandalism at the crash site. Detail provided by C Lambert
The Liberator in Royal Air Force and Commonwealth Service by James D Oughton page 263
19/20.1943. No.10 RCAF Bomber Reconnaissance Squadron B-24...
Liberator RCAF 3701 [Royal Air Force Aircraft Serial and Image]...
This incident involved multiple aircraft:
- Liberator B-24D / Mk. V Serial: 3701
All the above aircraft in the above list are referenced in this report.
Liberator 3701
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 10 (B) Sqn ()
Battle honours
The Second World War
NORTH-WEST ATLANTIC, 1940-1945.
Lineage
Authorized as ‘No.10 (Torpedo Bomber) Squadron’ 1 April 1938.Footnote1
Redesignated 'No.10 (Bomber) Squadron' 28 August 1939.Footnote2
Redesignated 'No.10 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron' 1 September 1939.Footnote3
Disbanded 13 August 1945.Footnote4
Notes:
No lineal connection with '10 Experimental Squadron', of 1967-70. See 10 Experimental Squadron.
Operational history
The Second World War
The squadron flew on anti-submarine operations on the Atlantic Coast under 'Eastern Air Command'.Footnote5
Footnotes
Footnote 1
GO 48/38. Authorized but not formed (AFGO 19/39)
Footnote 2
AFGO 41/39
Footnote 3
AFGO 57/39\
Footnote 4
Secret Organization Order 279, 4 August 1945, file S.17-10-1 (DOE), Kardex 181.009 (D5432)
Footnote 5
AFGO 25/40; Statement and Organization Charts for the Home and Overseas War and BCATP Organization, 15 April 1942, file S.8202, Kardex 181.002 (D421); Memorandum, Notes for CAS, Appendix A, 12 September 1939, Document Collection 77/543
Government of CanadaLiberator 3701
Liberator B-24D / Mk. V 3701
H {{clearfloat}} {{storedserimage,Liberator3701.jpg,float:right;width:400px;margin-left:10px;,3701 Tail RCAF photo via Mike Kaehler}}Ex USAAF B-24D-25-CO serial number 41-24236. General note on the first RCAF B-24Ds (3701 to 3704): Received second hand from USAAF, in very poor condition and without all operational equipment. Mostly used only for training and transportation by RCAF. Initially operated in USAAF camouflage. The designation Mk. V was never officially used by RCAF. These aircraft were generally known as "Brazilian Liberators", in the belief that they had come from a USAAF unit based in Brazil (not confirmed by US records).
Operated by No. 10 (BR) Squadron, RCAF Station Gander, Newfoundland. Went missing on flight from Gander to Mt. Joli, Quebec, on 19 / 20 October 1943. Aircraft was diverted to Dorval because of poor weather at Mt. Joli, wreckage not found until June 1946. 24 fatalities, including most of the crew of Liberator 595, on leave after sinking U-341 a few weeks earlier.
1943-09-29 Taken on Strength 2019-08-20
1943-October-20 Accident: 10 Squadron Loc: Names: Barabanoff | Beattie | Dynes | Elliott | Finn | Fisher | Hambly | Howlett | Jenkins | Johnson | Johnston | Lamont | MacDonald | Marr | Mcnaughton | Patterson | Poirier | Radcliffe | Read | Sanderson | Silverstein | Veilleux | Ware | Wood
1944-03-23 Struck off Strength Struck off, after crashing at St. Donat, near Mont Joli, PQ on night of 19 / 20 October 1943. 2019-08-20
Liberator 3701 B-24D / Mk. V - Transport - 1943-10-20 to 1943-10-20
6 Bomber Group October 20, 1943
8 Wellingtons from 432 squadron were ordered out on a sea search. They were unsuccessful and returned to base. Richard Koval (6bombergroup.ca)
10 North Atlantic (BR) Squadron, Gander, Newfoundland. Liberator V aircraft 3701 H flying from Gander, Newfoundland to Mont Joli, Quebec was redirected to Dorval, Quebec due to poor weather conditions at Mont Joli. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft before it crashed and burned on the west side of the 2,500 foot foothill of Black Mountain, Quebec. A search at the time of the crash failed to find the crash site. The wreckage of the aircraft and remains of the 24 casualties was not located until 1946-06-20. A Memorial Cairn was erected on the Black Mountain crash site in memory of those who lost their lives there
Flight Crew: Sergeant WG MacNaughton MiD (RCAF), Flight Lieutenant JA Poirier (RCAF), Flying Officer SA Sanderson AFM (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 2 JA Barabonoff (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 1 J Silverstein MiD (RCAF), Pilot Officer RW MacDonald MiD (RCAF)
Passengers: Flight Lieutenant RF Fisher MiD (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 1 W Howlett (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 1 FE Jenkins (RCAF), Cpl HD Beattie (RCAF), Cpl RD Marr (RCAF), Cpl HK Hambly (RCAF), Cpl AC Johnston (RCAF), Pilot Officer J Lamont MiD (RCAF), Leading Aircraftman CL Dynes (RCAF), Leading Aircraftman GR Patterson (RCAF), Leading Aircraftman AJ Radcliffe (RCAF), Leading Aircraftman EW Read (RCAF)(USA), Sergeant FH Elliott (RCAF)(USA), Sergeant EM Finn (RCAF), Leading Aircraftman JAJP Veilleux (RCAF), FS RF Ware (RCAF), Sergeant SA Wood (RCAF) and Flying Officer JS Johnston MiD (RCAF) were all killed in this flying accident
All were buried at the crash site where the cairn stands in their honour until 1985, when the crews remains were exhumed and moved to a cemetery St. Donat, Quebec due to vandalism at the crash site. Detail provided by C Lambert
The Liberator in Royal Air Force and Commonwealth Service by James D Oughton page 263 19/20.1943. No.10 RCAF Bomber Reconnaissance Squadron B-24...
Liberator RCAF 3701 [Royal Air Force Aircraft Serial and Image]...