Cairo, Illinois, USA
124 Ferry Squadron, Rockcliffe, Ontario. Flying Officer Parsons was on a training flight and was killed when Hampden aircraft P 5426 crashed three miles north-east of the aerodrome at Rockcliffe, cause obscure.
Parsons, Edwin Scarritt (Flying Officer)
Killed in Action 1942-May-29
Birth Date: 1908
Born:
Parents: Son of George and Mary S. Parsons, of Cairo, Illinois, U.S.A., husband of Betty Ann Parsons, of West Collingswood, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Spouse: Husband of Betty Ann Parsons, of West Collingswood, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Home: Cairo, Illinois, USA
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: unkown date
Service
RCAF
Unit
124 Sqn- Squadron
Base
Rank
Flying Officer
Position
Pilot
Service Numbers
C/4352
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)Accident Card - Handley Page Hampden Mk. I serial:P5426
This accident involved 1 aircraft on 1942-May-29. Hampden s/n P5426.
This accident involved 1 person. Parsons ES
Hampden serial: P5426
(RCAF Photo via Chris Charland)(Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)
Handley Page Hampden (Serial No. P5428), of No. 32 Operational Training Unit at RCAF Patricia Bay, British Columbia, in the torpedo-bomber training role between May 1942 and February 1944.
Handley Page Hampden (Serial No. P5428), of No. 32 Operational Training Unit at RCAF Patricia Bay, British Columbia, in the torpedo-bomber training role between May 1942 and February 1944.
Handley Page developed a modern stressed-skin mid-wing monoplane, powered by Bristol Pegasus radial air cooled engines, with its first flight in 1936. It had the most advanced wings available at the time, giving it a remarkably low landing speed of 73 mph for an aircraft of its size, with a top speed of 265 mph. The Hampden had a short, narrow but tall main fuselage with a very slender tail unit. This configuration led to the nicknames "Flying Panhandle" and "Flying Suitcase". At the end of the war, no complete or partial Hampden aircraft were retained for museum display.
The Hampden served in the early stages of the war, bearing the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the first night raid on Berlin and in the first 1000-bomber raid on Cologne. In Canada, Hampdens were built by six companies that formed Associated Aircraft. There were three in Ontario and three in Quebec, hence they were identified as the Ontario Group and Quebec Group. They supplied all the the components to the two assembly plants. The Ontario Group's assembly plant was at the Malton Airport, while the Quebec group's assembly plant was at the St. Hubert Airport. Canadian Museum of Flight and Harold A Skaarup web page
Handley Page Hampden in Flight
Wikipedia Hampden Bomber
Harold A Skaarup Web Page
Hampden - Kestrel PublicationsAircraft Images
Hampden P5426
Hampden Mk. I P5426
Category A crash at RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario on 29 May 1942, before being taken on strength.1942-May-29 Accident: 124 Ferry Squadron Loc: Rockliffe Aerodrome Names: Parsons
1942-06-03 Taken on Strength 2019-08-20
1942-11-12 Struck off Strength 2019-08-20
Unit Desciption
124 Sqn ()
Lineage (excerpt)
Redesignated 'No.124 (Ferry) Squadron' 13 February 1942. Disbanded 30 September 1946.
Operational history
The Second World War
The squadron flew on inter-command ferry operations in Canada.
Government of Canada, The Insignia and Lineages of the Canadian Forces, Volume 4: Operational Flying Squadrons (A-AD-267-000/AF-004)