Another crash took the life of instructor W/O D. C. Hide, while he was at the controls of a Harvard during a low flying exercise. The aircraft struck a hydro wire near Gananoque Lake sending the aircraft into the water. A/LA Paul Snowden, age 21, fortunately escaped with his life. The C/O's diary records the following details: "W/O D. C. Hide killed in flying accident. Took off at 8:40 a.m. with A/LA P. Snowden to carry out instrument flying. After the pupil had flown "˜under the hood' for 40 minutes, W/O Hide took over control in the low flying area for Relief Airdrome, Gananoque." The crash occurred near two American fishing parties from Griffin's Lodge and the young pupil was pulled into the boat piloted by Lewis Griffin. A/LA Snowden said: "I undid the straps and got out, but my parachute pulled me to the bottom. I had to take it off too before I could swim to the surface and by that time, I couldn't stay under any longer to help the other fellow." He had seen the instructor's head strike the instrument panel as he plunged forward on impact and credited his own miraculous escape to the fact that he was strapped in so tightly as to prevent his being thrown forward. The Kingston Whig reported, "A minimum of excitement was attendant upon the incident. Within an hour nothing but a single pole sticking from the water 250 yards away from two dangling hydro wires remained to show that sudden death had invaded the quiet of the lakeside fishing resort. The necessary officials had made their visits, the rescued airman had been hustled off to Collins Bay, the plane had been pronounced unrecoverable without special equipment and the officials had departed, leaving the holiday makers to resume their Sunday fishing." Twenty-five year old W.O. Dennis Hide was the son of Eric and Elsie Hide and was survived by his wife, Joan (nee Burden) of Burley, Hampshire. His ashes were scattered over Lake Ontario. His name appears on The Cremation Memorial at the Ottawa Beechwood Cemetery. [The memorial commemorates twenty-six servicemen, including Commanding Officer, G/C Shekleton.] On May 26, 1999, former A/LA Snowdon brought his wife to meet the man who saved his life, Lewis Griffin, and to finally thank him in person. The Snowdons were greeted at City Hall by then mayor, Gary Bennett. Snowdon said he would long be grateful to the mayor who had responded to a letter he had written only a month earlier asking for help in tracking down the man who had saved his life. Mayor Bennett had contacted The Whig-Standard because it had carried the coverage of the crash and they were able to bring the two together. Snowdon said officials at the aerodrome had made sure that he was up and flying the next day. After completing his training in the U.K., he had served on active duty and flew with the Fleet Air Arm until 1946. Upon retirement from a successful career and travels throughout the world, he had decided to return to the crash site on the Gananoque Lake. While driving back to Kingston, he was quiet: "I'm quite overcome, really. It puts the clock back; you do become more alive. The years just roll away and you feel just as you were 50 years ago." Warrant Officer Class I Hide's body was cremated and his name is commemorated on a panel at the Ottawa Cremation Memorial in the Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa, Ontario.

Unvetted Source Harvards Above, A book about 31 Service Flying Training School - In Memoriam