Chitty, William Campbell (Civilian)

Killed in Flying Accident 1942-October-14

Civilian William Campbell Chitty RAFBOAC

Birth Date: 1902-October-23

Born: Bethesda, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA

William Lemon Chitty

Home: Bethesda, Maryland

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: Unknown

Service

RAFBOAC

Unit

45 Group (RAF)

Base

RCAF Stn. Dorval, Quebec.

Rank

Civilian

Position

Civilian

Service Numbers

Home

Bethesda, Maryland

Chitty was an American contract employee navigator and pilot of Ferry Command. He and other civilian airline staff from the U.S. airlines staffed the overseas transport flights of aircraft being delivered to Britain.

In this case the Liberator had already made the flight from Dorval to Trinidad, BWI. Taking off from there the pilot had mistakenly selected the emergency fuel tanks, resulting in all four engines cutting out after the plane had only climbed a few hundred feet. The aircraft crashed with the loss of the entire crew.

Killed: Canadian Civilian Flight Engineer C F McDougall Canadian Civilian Radio Officer C V Atkinson US Civilian Pilot Captain T L Livermore US Civilian Pilot W C Chitty US Civilian Navigator G F Johnston.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

www.findagrave.com

Crew or Other Personnel

Liberator 4123882

Civilian Clarence Victor Atkinson RAFBOAC

Civilian Atkinson, Clarence Victor (RAFBOAC)
Flight Engineer
Killed in Flying Accident
1942-October-14
cemetery unknown

Civilian William Campbell Chitty RAFBOAC

Civilian Chitty, William Campbell (RAFBOAC)
Pilot & Navigator
Killed in Flying Accident
1942-October-14
cemetery unknown

Civilian George Frederic Johnston RAF

Civilian Johnston, George Frederic (RAF)
Navigator
Killed in Flying Accident
1942-October-14
cemetery unknown

Civilian Thomas Leonard Livermore ATA

Civilian Livermore, Thomas Leonard (ATA)
Pilot (Captain)
Killed in Flying Accident
1942-October-14
cemetery unknown

Civilian Charles Frederick McDougall RAF

Civilian McDougall, Charles Frederick (RAF)
Flight Engineer
Killed in Flying Accident
1942-October-14
St James Military Cemetery, Port Of Spain, Trinidad

Mission

Liberator B-24D-10-CO 4123882

Ferry Flight 1942-October-14 to 1942-October-14

45 () Group (RAF) Piarco, Trinidad

45 Group RAF Transport Command, Liberator aircraft (USAAF#) 41-23882 crashed five miles west of Sangre Grande, Trinidad. The Liberator had mistakenly taken off from 45 Group staging post 95 at Piarco, Trinidad with the emergency fuel tanks selected, resulting in all four engines cutting out after the plane had only climbed a few hundred feet. The aircraft crashed with the loss of the entire crew

Canadian Civilian Flight Engineer CF McDougall, Canadian Civilian Radio Officer CV Atkinson, US Civilian Pilot Captain TL Livermore, US Civilian Pilot WC Chitty and US Civilian Navigator GF Johnston were all killed the crash

Ocean Bridge, The History of RAF Ferry Command by Carl A Christie page 314

unvetted Source [Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database}...

Liberator serial: 41-23882

(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.

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

YouTube Liberator bomber