Nicholls, Raymond Harry (Pilot Officer)

Killed in Flying Accident 1943-April-28

Male Head

Birth Date: 1923

Born:

Son of Frank and Sarah J. Nicholls, of Royton, Lancashire, England.

Home:

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: Unknown

Service

RAFVR

Unit

33 EFTS- Elementary Flying Training School (RAF)

Base

Caron, Saskatchewan, Canada

Rank

Pilot Officer

Position

Pilot Officer

Service Numbers

131530

Final Burial

Caron Municipal Cemetery
Block C Plot 28 Grave F

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

www.findagrave.com

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

This incident involved multiple aircraft:

Cornell Mk. I Serial: FH875
Cornell Mk. I Serial: FH874

All the above aircraft in the above list are referenced in this report.

Crew or Other Personnel

Cornell FH874

Leading Aircraftman Steven Octavius Nethercot RAFVR

Leading Aircraftman Nethercot, Steven Octavius (RAFVR)

Killed in Flying Accident
1943-April-28
Caron Municipal Cemetery, Caron, Saskatchewan, Canada

Pilot Officer Raymond Harry Nicholls RAFVR

Pilot Officer Nicholls, Raymond Harry (RAFVR)

Killed in Flying Accident
1943-April-28
Caron Municipal Cemetery, Caron, Saskatchewan, Canada

Cornell serial: FH874

Fairchild Cornell Mk. II
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

In early 1942, an agreement was signed between the Canadian Government and Fairchild Aircraft, which licenced Fleet Aircraft of Fort Erie, Ontario to construct the PT-26 Cornell in Canada. The first 800 Cornells used by the RCAF were supplied from Fairchild, until production commenced at Fort Erie in November 1942. By the end of the war in 1945, 2,853 Cornells had been built by Fleet - 1,565 for the RCAF and 1,288 for the RAF.

PT-26 Cornells were flown at many of the Elementary Flying Training Schools (EFTS) of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, where they replaced the Fleet Finch and the de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane trainers. After the Second World War, many Cornells were sold to the civilian market, but some were retained by the RCAF, where they were finally retired in 1948. CWPHM

YouTube Cornell Trainer

Wikipedia Cornell Trainer

unvetted Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Aircraft Images

Cornell FH875

Cornell Mk. I FH875

Ex USAAF PT-26, serial number 42-15354. To RCAF in Canada, retained RAF serial number.

1942-12-26 Taken on Strength 2022-02-07
1943-April-28 Accident: 33 Elementary Flying Training School Loc: Mortlach Names: Mcknight | Nethercot | Nicholls | O'Reilly
1943-07-09 Struck off Strength 2022-02-07

Cornell FH874

Cornell Mk. I FH874

Ex USAAF PT-26, serial number 42-15353. To RCAF in Canada, retained RAF serial number.

1942-12-26 Taken on Strength 2022-02-07
1943-April-28 Accident: 33 Elementary Flying Training School Loc: Mortlach Names: Mcknight | Nethercot | Nicholls | O'Reilly
1943-07-09 Struck off Strength 2022-02-07

Unit Desciption

33 EFTS (33 Elementary Flying Training School)

An Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) gave a trainee 50 hours of basic flying instruction on a simple trainer like the De Havilland Tiger Moth, Fleet Finch, or Fairchild Cornell over 8 weeks.Elementary schools were operated by civilian flying clubs under contract to the RCAF and most of the instructors were civilians. For example, No. 12 EFTS Goderich was run by the Kitchener-Waterloo Flying Club and the County of Huron Flying Club.The next step for a pilot was the Service Flying Training School.