Jones, Richard Cyril
Killed in Flying Accident 1944-05-16
Birth Date: 1925
Born:
Son of Frederick Wilmer Jones and Violet Jones, of Morris.
Home: Morris, Manitoba
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
RCAF
Unit
7 AOS- Air Observer School
Base
Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada
Rank
Leading Aircraftman
Position
Leading Aircraftman
Service Numbers
R/281976
Home
Morris, Manitoba
First Burial
Morris Cemetery, Morris, Manitoba, Canada
7 Air Observer School, Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Leading Aircraftman Jones was the only casualty when Anson aircraft 6570 crashed on take-off. The pilot had failed to unlock the aileron control prior to take-off.
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
www.findagrave.comThis incident involved multiple aircraft:
- Anson Mk. I Serial: 6570
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 History7 AOS (7 Air Observer School)
Air Observers were later called "navigators". For recruits in this stream, the training path after ITS was 8 weeks at an Air Observer School (AOS), 1 month at a Bombing & Gunnery School, and finally 1 month at a Navigation School. The Air Observer schools were operated by civilians under contract to the RCAF. For example, Nos. 7, 8, and 9 were run by CP Airlines. However, the instructors were RCAF. The basic navigation techniques throughout the war years were dead reckoning and visual pilotage, and the tools were the aeronautical chart, magnetic compass, watch, trip log, pencil, Douglas protractor, and Dalton Navigational Computer. They trained in the Avro Anson.
RCAF.info - RCAF Station Portage la Prairie Manitoba
Manitoba Historical Society - Portage Airport
Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum - 7 AOS History
Anson 6570
Anson Mk. I 6570
Ex RAF W2359. To No. 4 Training Command on 4 July 1941, for use by No. 15 Service Flying Training School at Claresholm, Alberta. To No. 2 Training Command on 10 February 1942. To No. 8 Repair Depot on 7 October 1943, for major inspection. To MacDonald Brothers Aircraft for overhaul, 20 October to 20 December 1943. To storage with No. 2 Training Command when completed. Category A crash on 17 May 1944. To No. 8 Repair Depot on 19 May 1944 for scrapping.1941-05-27 Taken on Strength Aircraft Repair 2019-08-20
1943-September-30 Accident: 7 Air Observer School Loc: Souris Names: Hesketh | Horan | Oldman | Passmore | Taylor
1944-May-16 Accident: 7 Air Observer School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Gerow | Jones | Tate
1944-06-03 Struck off Strength Struck off, reduced to spares and produce 2019-08-20