Paterson, William Simpson

Killed in Action 1945-10-18

Birth Date: 1923

Born:

Son of George S. and Margaret S. Paterson, of Toronto, Ontario.

Home: Toronto, Ontario

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: Unknown

Service

RCAF

Unit

59 Sqn- Squadron

Base

Rank

Flight Sergeant

Position

Flight Sergeant

Service Numbers

1552554

59 Squadron (Ab uno disce omnes) Liberator VIII aircraft KL 676 failed to return from operations.

220 Sqn air Gunner FS WS Paterson (RCAF) and crew, missing believed killed.

Consolidated Liberator B-24 / F-7

(DND Photos via James Craik) (Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)
Consolidated Liberator G.R. Mk. VIII, RCAF (Serial No. 11130) ex-USAAF Consolidated (Vultee) B-24L Liberator USAAF (44-50154)
ex-RAF (Serial No. 5009), ex-Indian Air Force (Serial No. HE773).
Currently preserved in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum Ottawa Ontario.
60f987eeff518ec6f9866f66_Consolidated-B-24-Liberator--RCAF--1968--James-Craik.jpeg image not found

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber flown by the RCAF during the Second Word War. It was designed with a shoulder-mounted, high aspect ratio Davis wing which gave the Liberator a high cruise speed, long range and the ability to carry a heavy bomb load. Early RAF Liberators were the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean as a matter of routine. In comparison with its contemporaries the B-24 was relatively difficult to fly and had poor low speed performance; it also had a lower ceiling compared with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Of the roughly 18,500 B-24s built in the USA during the war, 148 were flown by the RCAF on long range anti-submarine patrols, with the B-24 serving an instrumental role in closing the Mid-Atlantic gap in the Battle of the Atlantic. The RCAF also flew a few B-24s post war as transports.

Roughly half of all (RAF) Liberator crews in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theatre were Canadian by the end of the war. John Muir of Vancouver flew the longest mission of the war: 24hrs, 10mins from Ceylon to Burma and back. (Kyle Hood) Harold Skaarup web page


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