Hall, Joseph (Flying Officer)

Killed in Flying Accident 1945-April-09

Flying Officer Joseph Hall RAF

Birth Date: 1915

Born:

Parents:

Spouse:

Home:

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: unkown date

Service

RAF

Unit

231 (C) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)

Base

Rank

Flying Officer

Position

passenger (pilot)

Service Numbers

54453

Final Burial
Google MapMount Royal Cemetery
Sec G 943 Grave 443

Flying Officer Joseph HALL 54453 RAF, General Duties Branch was a passenger on aircraft Liberator AM929 which crashed at Saint-Simon near Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, whilst on a flight to the United Kingdom. F/O Hall was killed.

According to his log book, F/O Hall's most recent postings were:
No. 7 Sqn. - 8 PFF – effective 19.4.44 – Duties: op: aircrew; No. 30 OTU – effective 23.6.44 – Duties: Instructor (F/O); ACAC (Air Crew Allocation Centre)* - Effective 30.11.44 – Remarks: F/Eng assessment (re) future duties; HQ Transport Command 231 Sqn. - Effective 3.1.45 – Remarks: “pre disp. To F/E duties”

Shortly after take off from Dorval, the No. 3 engine caught on fire. The fire was so intense that the engine fell off. As the pilot Glen Ira Voorhees was attempting to land on a field near St. Simon, the Liberator struck a high-tension wire and crashed and burned. F/O Hall and Douglas Morrison were killed as well as a civilian on the ground

The crew and passengers were: Pilot - Glen Ira Voorhees was an American civilian severely Injured; 2nd Pilot - David. J. Mitchell was also an American civilian ; Navigator - C3680 Flight Lieutenant M. S. Ferguson, R.C.A.F.; *Flight Engineer - 937161 L. W. Smith (no rank given, possibly Flight Sergeant \ Leonard William Smith 937181); Radio Officer - E. A. Hunt was a Canadian civilian; 1301067 L. A. C. E. J. Ready was a Finance Clerk; 71775 A. E. Colate (no rank given) was also a Finance Clerk;

Unvetted Source Liberator AM929

The Lethbridge Herald (Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada) April 11th, 1945 reports that the other death was Douglas C Morrison, 24, passenger control officer with RAF Transport Command. He was from Montreal and had served two tours with Bomber Command as a Sergeant Air Gunner. His brother Guy Morrison was serving with the RCN.

The ground casualty was: R Plouffe, 35, of St Barnabe He was killed while trying to get to the burning aircraft. Electricity wires brought down by the aircraft caused his death. Dennis Burke, Dublin, Foreign Aircrew and Aircraft Ireland 1939-1945,www.ww2irishaviation.com

The Montreal Star reports that there were seven crew and 11 passengers on the aircraft.

Montreal Star 1945 04 13

SOURCE: Diana Trafford, CAHS Ottawa & Montreal

Unvetted Source Le Courrier- St-Hyacinthe 9 April 1945

Unvetted Source Le Clairon Saint-Hyacinthe13 April 1945

Unvetted Source Christies crash sources for Ocean Bridge.pdf

Montreal Star 1945 04 13
Christie notes on AM929 front
Christie AM929 2 back

Commonwealth War Grave Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Find-A-Grave Finadagrave.com

Liberator serial: AM929

(DND Photos via James Craik) (Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)
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


YouTube Liberator bomber

Wikipedia Wikipedia Liberator bomber

Unvetted Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page