Rowland, Willard Hugh

Killed in Flying Accident 1944-07-06

Birth Date: 1917

Born:

Son of William Albert and Alwilda Rowland, of Leaside; husband of Viola Rowland, of Toronto.

Home: Leaside, Ontario

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: Unknown

Service

RCAF

Unit

1 CNS- Central Navigation School

Base

Rivers, Manitoba, Canada

Rank

Pilot Officer

Position

Pilot Officer

Service Numbers

J/42435

Home
Google MapLeaside, Ontario
First Burial
Google MapMount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario
1 Central Navigation School, Rivers, Manitoba. Anson aircraft 12364 was engaged in a night navigation exercise when it apparently turned into the fringe of cumulo nimbus cloud. The aircraft was thrown about violently and Pilot Officer Rowland ordered the four students to bail out. He stayed at the controls to allow the students to get clear but he could not escape.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

www.findagrave.com

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

This incident involved multiple aircraft:

  1. Anson Mk. V Serial: 12364

All the above aircraft in the above list are referenced in this report.

Findagrave.com

Anson 12364

Pilot Officer Rowland, Willard Hugh (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Flying Accident
1944-July-06
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Avro Anson

Avro Anson Mk. V
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.
Avro_Anson_675_m.jpg image not found

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

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

YouTube Avro Anson History

YouTube Avro Anson Construction

1 CNS (1 Central Navigation School)

Canada Primary Source RCAF.info - RCAF Station Rivers MB

NO 1 ANS was redesignated NO1 Central Navigation School after an amalgamation with NO 2 ANS from Pennfield Ridge, NB May 11 1942

General Virtual Manitoba - Rivers History

Project 44 BCATP

General Project 44 BCATP

YouTube YouTube - Valour Canada Aerodrome of Democracy

Anson 12364

Anson Mk. V 12364



1944-02-21 Taken on Strength 2022-02-07
1944-July-06 Accident: 1 Central Navigation School Loc: Brandon Names: Fulkes | Ivory | King | Korber | Rowland
1944-08-04 Struck off Strength 2022-02-07