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Ross, John Weldy (Civilian)

Killed in Flying Accident 1945-July-04

Male Head

Birth Date: unkown date (age )

Service
RAF
Unit
45 Group (RAF)
Base
Dorval, Quebec
Rank
Civilian
Marshal
Air Chief MarshalA/C/M
Air MarshalA/M
Air Vice MarshalA/V/M
Air CommodoreA/C
Group CaptainG/C
Wing CommanderW/C
Squadron LeaderS/L
Flight LieutenantF/L
Flying OfficerF/O
Pilot OfficerP/O
Warrant Officer 1st ClassWO1
Warrant Officer 2nd ClassWO2
Flight SergeantFS
SergeantSGT
CorporalCPL
Senior AircraftmanSAC
Leading AircraftmanLAC
Aircraftman 1st ClassAC1
Aircraftman 2nd ClassAC2
Position
Pilot/1st Officer
Service Numbers

Liberator C lX JT982

Transport 1945-July-03 to 1945-July-04

45 Group RAF Transport Command, Dorval, Quebec. Liberator C IX aircraft JT982, operated by a mixed crew of civilian and 231 Squadron aircrew, was scheduled for a flight from Washington DC USA to Northolt, England with stopovers in Dorval, Gander, Keflavik and Prestwick. The aircraft departed RCAF Gander on July 4, 1945 on the leg to Keflavik with a crew of 6 and 9 VIP passengers including several women, when the Liberator ditched in the North Atlantic, believed due to the elevator becoming jammed. An intensive two week air and sea search was carried out, during which a second, RCAF Liberator 595 was lost in the Atlantic, but no trace of the aircraft, crew or passengers of Liberator JT982 were found

Passengers:

  • Sir Herbert William Malkin GCMG, CB, KC, Legal Adviser to Foreign Office -Age 62
  • Colonel Denis Cuthbert Capel-Dunn OBE, Ministry of Defense (MI5) - Age 41
  • Mr Roland Tennyson Peel COBE MC, India Office - Age 52
  • Miss Mabel Jane Clarkson Scupham, Foreign Office - Aged 40
  • Miss Joan Margaret Cole-Hamilton MBE, Foreign Office - Age 40
  • Miss Doreen A Smith, Foreign Office - Aged 20
  • Miss Agnes Mary Collard, Foreign Office - Age 29
  • Miss Beryl Hibberd, India Office - Age 23
  • Miss Phyllis Mabel Spurway, Cabinet Office - Aged 35

    • Crew:

  • Captain George Peter Evans (pilot) United States civilian
  • (Captain) John Weldy Ross (co-pilot) United States civilian
  • Cyril Paul Joseph Meagher (radio operator) Canadian civilian
  • Gayle Burton Swaney Flight Engineer, Canadian civilian
  • F/O Roy Holden Marshall Patterson navigator, (RCAF), 231 Squadron
  • Sergeant William Thomas Keates, flight clerk (RAFVR), 231 Squadron

    • Ocean Bridge, The History of RAF Ferry Command by Carl A Christie pages 132, 135-9, 217,259,329

    The Liberator in Royal air Force and Commonwealth Service by James D Oughton with John Hamlin and Andrew Thomas

    General [Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...

    General Aviation Safety Network

    General Keflavik I Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

    Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

    Find-A-Grave.com Find-A-Grave.com

    Canada Primary Source Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

    Civilian John Weldy Ross has no known grave.



    Addenda Panel

    Crew on Liberator C lX JT982

    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.

    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

    Wkikpedia Wikipedia Liberator bomber

    General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

    CASPIR Aircraft Groups:
    RCAF On Strength (148), RCAF 400 Squadron (19), Canadian Aircraft Losses (145), Canadian Ferried (1)
    last update: 2021-09-18 19:06:22

    Liberator C lX JT982

    London Evening Standard July 6 1945

    An RAF Ferry Command C.IX Liberator, JT982 of 231 Squadron, was scheduled for a Washington, Dorval, Gander, Keflavik, Prestwick, and Northolt flight itinerary. The aircraft departed RCAF Gander on July 4, 1945 on the leg to Keflavik with a crew of 4 and 11 VIP passengers including several women. While enroute towards Keflavik, the Liberator ditched in the North Atlantic apparently due to the elevator becoming jammed. Although an intensive two week air and sea search was carried out, no trace of the aircraft or crew and passengers were ever found from the missing Liberator.


    1945-July-04 Accident: 45 GROUP Loc: Missing Names: Cole-Hamilton | Dunn | Evans | Hibbard | Keates | Malkin | Meagher | Patterson | Peel | Ross | Scupham | Spurway | Swaney | Tollard

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