Nicholls, Raymond Harry
Killed in Flying Accident 1943-04-28
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
Caron Municipal Cemetery, Caron, Saskatchewan, Canada
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.
Cornell FH874
Fairchild Cornell
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
Cornell Trainer
Wikipedia Cornell Trainer 
Harold A Skaarup Web Page 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.
For More information on RCAF Station Caron see here
RCAF.info - RCAF Station Caron SK
RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field Boharm SK
Vintage Wings - Ghosts of Saskatchewan
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