Mathers, William John Strachan
Killed in Flying Accident 1944-05-14
Birth Date: 1923
Born:
Son of William John White Mathers and Agnes Mathers, of Colinsburgh, Fife, Scotland.
Home:
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
RAF
Unit
2 ANS- Air Navigation School
Base
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Rank
Leading Aircraftman
Position
Leading Aircraftman
Service Numbers
576508
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, St John's, Newfoundland, Canada
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
www.findagrave.com
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)This incident involved multiple aircraft:
- Anson Mk. V Serial: 11600
All the above aircraft in the above list are referenced in this report.
Anson 11600
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 History2 ANS (2 Air Navigation School)
Nos. 1 & 2 Air Navigation Schools offered four-week courses in astronavigation and were the last step for Air Observers.
The RAF schools, Nos. 31, 32, and 33, provided the same training as Air Observer Schools.
RCAF.info - RCAF Station Pennfield Ridge NB
History of 2 ANS Pennfield Ridge NB
2 Air Navigation School was disbanded at Pennfield Ridge April 1942.
Unit was reformed in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island February 1944. RCAF.info - RCAF Station Charlottetown PEI
RCAF.info - RCAF Station Winnipeg Manitoba
The unit was redesignated No 2 Air Observer School 15 November 1955.
Project 44 BCATPAnson 11600
Anson Mk. V 11600
First assigned to No. 31 General Reconnaissance School at Charlottetown, PEI. To No. 3 Training Command on 16 March 1944. With No. 2 Air Navigation School at Charlottetown, PEI. One of 25 aircraft launched for night exercises on 14 May 1944. Weather turned bad, and this was one of 3 aircraft never seen again. Believed to have come down in the sea off Newfoundland, bodies of Leading Aircraftman J.W.S. Mathers washed ashore on 4 June 1944, Leading Aircraftman F. Duncan washed ashore on 9 June 1944. Ownership to No. 4 Repair Depot at Scoudouc, NB on 8 June 1944, for write off action.1943-05-28 Taken on Strength Eastern Air Command 2019-08-20
1944-May-14 Accident: 2 Air Navigation School Loc: Names: Duncan | Kilsby | Logan | Mathers | Murchie
1944-07-29 Struck off Strength Struck off, reduced to spares and produce 2019-08-20