Overton, Edward Lockhart (Pilot Officer)

The North American Harvard appeared in 1937, in response to a US Air Corps proposal for an advanced trainer. The first of 50 Harvard Mk. Is ordered by the Canadian Government were delivered to RCAF Sea Island, BC in July 1939. By early 1940, the Mk. II was being assembled in California with an all metal fuselage replacing the original tube and fabric structure. 1200 Mk. IIs were supplied from US sources, until Canadian built Harvards started being produced in 1941.

In August 1938, Noorduyn Aviation of Montreal farsightedly signed an agreement with North American, to build the Harvard under licence. When the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) came into being in December 1939, Noorduyn received its first orders and went on to produce nearly 2800 Harvard Mk. IIBs for the RCAF and the RAF, between 1940 and 1945. In Canada, Harvard Mk. IIBs were used as advanced trainers with the BCATP at fifteen Service Flying Training Schools across the nation. They helped pilots make to the transition from low powered primary trainers, like Fleet Finch or the de Havilland Tiger Moth, to high performance front line fighters such as the Spitfire.

At the end of WW II, although the RCAF retained the Harvard as a trainer, a large number of them were sold off to civilian operators. The RCAF soon regretted this, for by 1949 the Cold War with the Soviet Union was in full swing and the RCAF urgently needed trainers again. 100 T-6J Texans were leased temporarily from the USAF and a further 270 Harvards, the Mk. IV version, were ordered from Canadian Car & Foundry, Thunder Bay. The RCAF used the Harvard Mk. IV for a further fifteen years, before finally retiring it in 1966.

A total of 20,110 Harvards were built between 1938 and 1954, 3,370 of them in Canada. Countless numbers of privately owned Harvards are still flying today.

Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's Harvard Mk. IV was built by Canadian Car & Foundry, Thunder Bay, Ontario in late 1951. The aircraft saw service at four RCAF flying schools across the nation until it was sold to a civilian owner in 1965. It was the third aircraft to join the Museum after Dennis Bradley, Alan Ness and John Weir donated it in 1973. Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

Harvard Advanced Trainer

Wikipedia Harvard Advanced Trainer

Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Aircraft Images

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Harvard BW205

Harvard Mk. II BW205

Accepted in storage, had been in Canada with the RAF for some time prior to transfer. First assigned to No. 39 Service Flying Training School at Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Category A crash while with No. 34 Service Flying Training School at Medicine Hat, Alberta at 10:30 on 12 June 1944. Struck ferry cables across the South Saskatchewan River during unauthorized low level flying. Pilot Officer E.L. Overton and Leading Aircraftman J. Van Rillaer, both RAFVR, killed. Transferred to No. 10 Repair Depot for write off on 15 August 1944.

1942-07-17 Taken on Strength No. 4 Training Command 2019-08-20
1944-March-23 Accident: 34 Service Flying Training School Loc: Holsom R1 Names: Nixon
1944-May-02 Accident: 34 Service Flying Training School Loc: Aerodrome Names: Schuck-kolben
1944-June-12 Accident: 34 Service Flying Training School Loc: Estuary Saskatchewan Names: Overton | Van Rillaer
1944-08-16 Struck off Strength Struck off, reduced to spares and produce 2019-08-20