Witts, John (Aircraftman 2nd Class)

Killed in Flying Accident 1942-January-08

Male Head

Birth Date: 1918-January-19

Born:

Parents: Son of Elmo John and Kitty Witts, of Penrith, New South Wales, Australia.

Spouse:

Home:

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: unkown date

Service

RAAF

Unit

1 AOS- Air Observer School

Base

Malton, Ontario, Canada

Rank

Aircraftman 2nd Class

Position

Service Numbers

411569

Memorial Location

Ottawa War Memorial
Panel 2 Column 1

Anson I 6831 lost over Lake Ontario, Leading Aircraftman A.M. Morgan, Leading Aircraftman B.B. Sutton RAAF, AC2 J. Witts RAAF and Staff Pilot Mr. C.B. Rutherford missing (Ken MacLean www.rafcommands.com).

Canada Primary Source School Daily Diary Entry - 1942-01-08

Commonwealth War Grave Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Find-A-Grave Finadagrave.com

Crew or Other Personnel

Anson 6831

Leading Aircraftman Alexander Mcdonald Morgan RCAF

Leading Aircraftman Morgan, Alexander Mcdonald (RCAF)
Observer
Killed in Flying Accident
1942-January-08
Ottawa War Memorial, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Civilian C B Rutherford RCAF

Civilian Rutherford, C B (RCAF)

Killed in Flying Accident
1942-January-08
cemetery unknown

Leading Aircraftman Bede Bernard Sutton RAAF

Leading Aircraftman Sutton, Bede Bernard (RAAF)

Killed in Flying Accident
1942-January-08
Ottawa War Memorial, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Aircraftman 2nd Class John Witts RAAF

Aircraftman 2nd Class Witts, John (RAAF)

Killed in Flying Accident
1942-January-08
Ottawa War Memorial, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Accident Card - Avro Anson Mk. I serial:6831

This accident involved 1 aircraft on 1942-January-08. Anson s/n 6831.

This accident involved 4 people. Morgan AM, Rutherford CB, Sutton B, Witts J

This accident had 4 fatalities. Civilian C B Rutherford RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no: Anson 6831, Aircraftman 2nd Class John Witts RAAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:411569 Anson 6831, Leading Aircraftman Bede Bernard Sutton RAAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:403769 Anson 6831, Leading Aircraftman Alexander Mcdonald Morgan RCAF Killed in Flying Accident service no:R/102709 Anson 6831

Unit Desciption

1 AOS (1 Air Observer School)

Air Observers were later called "navigators". For recruits in this stream, the training path after ITS was 8 weeks at an Air Observer School (AOS), 1 month at a Bombing & Gunnery School, and finally 1 month at a Navigation School. The Air Observer schools were operated by civilians under contract to the RCAF. For example, Nos. 7, 8, and 9 were run by CP Airlines. However, the instructors were RCAF. The basic navigation techniques throughout the war years were dead reckoning and visual pilotage, and the tools were the aeronautical chart, magnetic compass, watch, trip log, pencil, Douglas protractor, and Dalton Navigational Computer. They trained in the Avro Anson.