McNicholl, William Eugene (Flying Officer)
Killed in Action 1944-February-06
Birth Date: 1919-November-05
Born: Montreal, Montreal Region, Quebec, Canada
Parents: Son of Eugene and Marie McNicholl of Montreal, Quebec.
Spouse:
Home: Montreal, Quebec
Enlistment: Montreal, Quebec
Enlistment Date: 1941-July-03
Service
RCAF
Unit
116 (BR) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Base
RCAF Station Gander, Newfoundland
Rank
Flying Officer
Position
Pilot
Service Numbers
J/35964
Montreal, Quebec
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Finadagrave.com
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)Crew or Other Personnel
Canso 9781
Mission
Canso A 9781
Reconnaissance 1944-February-06 to 1944-February-06
116 (BR) Sqn (RCAF) RCAF Station Gander, Newfoundland
116 Bomber Reconnaissance Squadron RCAF, Gander, Newfoundland. Canso A aircraft 9781 M lost on a routine patrol off Newfoundland, Canada. The aircraft became lost and getting low on fuel set down in open water with the entire crew believed to have survived. There were ice floes and rough water and weather conditions that continued to deteriorate. Multiple aircraft, additional 116 Squadron RCAF Canso A aircraft and 10 Squadron RCAF Liberators aircraft were sent out to search for the missing aircraft and crew. The downed Canso and crew was located by a 10 Squadron B-24 Liberator (possibly 591 K, EX #BZ 727) crew was seen to abandon their aircraft for dinghies before the Canso sank. Another 116 Squadron Canso (possibly 9798 K) with a hand-picked crew was denied permission to land and attempt to pick up survivors due to the worsening sea conditions which also hampered further search efforts. Sadly, over the next few days the search for survivors proved fruitless, the entire was crew lost at sea
Flying Officer William Eugene McNicholl (RCAF), Warrant Officer 2 Perry Raymond Starr (RCAF), Warrant Officer 1 John Gordon Boothe (RCAF), Warrant Officer 2 Edwin Stanley Moon (RCAF), Sergeant Roy Kitchener Forth (RCAF), Sergeant Patrick Ernest Sloan (RCAF), Flight Sergeant John Albert William Skilleter (RCAF) and Sergeant William Herbert Gillatt (RCAF) were all missing, presumed killed in action
The missing have no known grave and all are commemorated on the Ottawa Memorial
Quietus Last Flight, Accident Proneness in WWII, Wartime Aviation Stories on the Canadian Home Front by Anne Gafiuk, Chapter 2
RCAF Squadrons and Aircraft by Samuel Kostinuk and John Griffin, pages 31,49
The Liberator in Royal Air Force and Commonwealth Service by James Oughton, John Hamlin and Andrew Thomas
Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database
Crash of Consolidated Canso off Goose Bay: 8 killed I Bureau of Aircra...
Canso serial: 9781
The Consolidated Catalina and Canso were close cousins. The Canso was the true amphibious version of the design and therefore included a conventional undercarriage to allow for either water or land use. The Canso provided more than two decades of valuable service to the RCAF. The Catalina variant came first and was produced beginning in 1935 for the United States Navy. The amphibious version, designated PBY-5A, came in service early in 1941 and the RCAF began using the aircraft on anti-submarine patrols that same year. After the Second World War, the RCAF used Cansos for search and rescue, Arctic survey missions and various transport operations. RCAF
Canso PBY
Wikipedia Canso PBYCanso 9781 A - Reconnaissance - 1944-02-06 to 1944-02-06
6 Group Unavailable
116 Bomber Reconnaissance Squadron RCAF, Gander, Newfoundland. Canso A aircraft 9781 M lost on a routine patrol off Newfoundland, Canada. The aircraft became lost and getting low on fuel set down in open water with the entire crew believed to have survived. There were ice floes and rough water and weather conditions that continued to deteriorate. Multiple aircraft, additional 116 Squadron RCAF Canso A aircraft and 10 Squadron RCAF Liberators aircraft were sent out to search for the missing aircraft and crew. The downed Canso and crew was located by a 10 Squadron B-24 Liberator (possibly 591 K, EX #BZ 727) crew was seen to abandon their aircraft for dinghies before the Canso sank. Another 116 Squadron Canso (possibly 9798 K) with a hand-picked crew was denied permission to land and attempt to pick up survivors due to the worsening sea conditions which also hampered further search efforts. Sadly, over the next few days the search for survivors proved fruitless, the entire was crew lost at sea
Flying Officer William Eugene McNicholl (RCAF), Warrant Officer 2 Perry Raymond Starr (RCAF), Warrant Officer 1 John Gordon Boothe (RCAF), Warrant Officer 2 Edwin Stanley Moon (RCAF), Sergeant Roy Kitchener Forth (RCAF), Sergeant Patrick Ernest Sloan (RCAF), Flight Sergeant John Albert William Skilleter (RCAF) and Sergeant William Herbert Gillatt (RCAF) were all missing, presumed killed in action
The missing have no known grave and all are commemorated on the Ottawa Memorial
Quietus Last Flight, Accident Proneness in WWII, Wartime Aviation Stories on the Canadian Home Front by Anne Gafiuk, Chapter 2
RCAF Squadrons and Aircraft by Samuel Kostinuk and John Griffin, pages 31,49
The Liberator in Royal Air Force and Commonwealth Service by James Oughton, John Hamlin and Andrew Thomas
Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database
Crash of Consolidated Canso off Goose Bay: 8 killed I Bureau of Aircra...