Oakes, Leslie William
Killed in Flying Accident 1943-10-29
Birth Date: 1922-September-20
Born:
Son of Roy Manton Oakes and Elizabeth Keziah Oakes, of Hunter's Hill, New South Wales, Australia.
Home:
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
RAAF
Unit
2 AOS- Air Observer School
Base
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Rank
Leading Aircraftman
Position
Leading Aircraftman
Service Numbers
432249
First Burial
Beechmount Cemetery, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
www.findagrave.com
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)This incident involved multiple aircraft:
- Anson Mk. I Serial: 6269
All the above aircraft in the above list are referenced in this report.
Anson 6269
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
Harold A Skaarup Web Page 
Avro Anson History2 AOS (2 Air Observer School)
Air Observers were later called "navigators". For recruits in this stream, the training path after ITS was 8 weeks at an Air Observer School (AOS), 1 month at a Bombing & Gunnery School, and finally 1 month at a Navigation School. The Air Observer schools were operated by civilians under contract to the RCAF. For example, Nos. 7, 8, and 9 were run by CP Airlines. However, the instructors were RCAF. The basic navigation techniques throughout the war years were dead reckoning and visual pilotage, and the tools were the aeronautical chart, magnetic compass, watch, trip log, pencil, Douglas protractor, and Dalton Navigational Computer. They trained in the Avro Anson.
Formed at Edmonton, Alberta - 5 August 1940
RCAF.Info - RCAF Station Edmonton Alberta
Bomber Command Museum Re-formed at Winnipeg, Manitoba 15 November 1955
Project 44 BCATP
Anson 6269
Anson Mk. I 6269
Ex RAF W1774. To No. 4 Training Command on 8 January 1941. To Aircraft Repair in Edmonton for overhaul, 30 July to 14 November 1942. To No. 4 Training Command when completed. Category A crash while being operated by No. 2 Air Observer School at Edmonton, probably in late 1943. Scrapped by No. 10 Repair Depot.1940-12-17 Taken on Strength MacDonald Brothers Aircraft 2019-08-20
1941-February-19 Accident: 7 Service Flying Training School Loc: Macleod Alberta Names: Hallett | Hertslet | Rutherford
1941-February-19 Accident: 7 Service Flying Training School Loc: Macleod Alberta Names: Hallett | Hertslet | Rutherford
1943-October-29 Accident: 2 Air Observer School Loc: Cookinglake Names: Easter | Gibson | Hennessy | Oakes
1943-12-22 Struck off Strength Struck off, reduced to spares and produce 2019-08-20