Thompson, Barry Howard

Killed in Flying Accident 1943-10-26

Male Head

Birth Date: 1923

Born:

Son of Howard John and Hilda Thompson, of Moseley, Birmingham, England.

Home:

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: Unknown

Service

RAF

Unit

32 EFTS- Elementary Flying Training School (RAF)

Base

Bowden, Alberta, Canada

Rank

Sergeant

Position

Sergeant

Service Numbers

1232209

Died in the crash of Fairchild Cornell - 14395.

This incident involved multiple aircraft:

  1. Cornell Cornell III Serial: 14395

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

Fairchild Cornell

Fairchild Cornell Mk. II
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
Fairchild_Cornell_159.jpg image not found

In early 1942, an agreement was signed between the Canadian Government and Fairchild Aircraft, which licenced Fleet Aircraft of Fort Erie, Ontario to construct the PT-26 Cornell in Canada. The first 800 Cornells used by the RCAF were supplied from Fairchild, until production commenced at Fort Erie in November 1942. By the end of the war in 1945, 2,853 Cornells had been built by Fleet - 1,565 for the RCAF and 1,288 for the RAF.

PT-26 Cornells were flown at many of the Elementary Flying Training Schools (EFTS) of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, where they replaced the Fleet Finch and the de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane trainers. After the Second World War, many Cornells were sold to the civilian market, but some were retained by the RCAF, where they were finally retired in 1948.CWPHM



YouTube Cornell Trainer

Wikipedia Wikipedia Cornell Trainer

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

32 EFTS (32 Elementary Flying Training School)

An Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) gave a trainee 50 hours of basic flying instruction on a simple trainer like the De Havilland Tiger Moth, Fleet Finch, or Fairchild Cornell over 8 weeks.Elementary schools were operated by civilian flying clubs under contract to the RCAF and most of the instructors were civilians. For example, No. 12 EFTS Goderich was run by the Kitchener-Waterloo Flying Club and the County of Huron Flying Club.The next step for a pilot was the Service Flying Training School.

For more Information on RCAF Station Bowden see here

Canada Primary Source RCAF.info - RCAF Station Bowden AB

Canada Primary Source RCAF.info - Relief Landing Field Netook AB

Museum Bomber Command Museum of Canada

Museum Vintage Wings - Ghosts of Southern Alberta

Project 44 BCATP

General Project 44 BCATP

YouTube YouTube - Valour Canada Aerodrome of Democracy


Cornell 14395

Cornell Cornell III 14395

With no. 32 Elementary Flying Training School when it crashed on 26 October 1943, both occupants killed.
{{link,canadaprimary,https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c5933/4328,RCAF - Accident Investigation File}}

1943-05-31 Taken on Strength 2022-02-07
1943-October-26 Accident: 32 Elementary Flying Training School Loc: Bowden Names: Armstrong | Thompson
1943-12-01 Struck off Strength 2022-02-07