CAHS Prince Edward Island Chapter Newsletter

CAHS Prince Edward Island "Carl F. Burke, MBE" Chapter

PRESIDENT’S REMARKS
President Roy Ramsay thanked the Chapter members for their support and co-operation over the past four years and wished the new President, Al Dunphy, every success in the coming years. The new Chapter Executive will also include Andy Anderson as Secretary, Vern Inman as Treasurer, and Chet Mac Neill as Editor. Roy also reported that the Slemon Park Aircraft Restoration Project is being researched by a committee chaired by Mike Everett and following his report the Chapter will need to decide the next course of action regarding the Argus, Voodoo, and Tracker aircraft mounted near the main gate. He suggested that the Chapter may want to research the following topics: 24 RD Tignish; PEI aircraft crashes; Paul Sharp; Flying Farmer, Elton Woodside; and, an Aviation Museum.

THE ROYAL AIR FORCE (RAF) AND THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHARLOTTETOWN AIRPORT. (Serial four; continued.)
The summer weather conditions enabled the RAF Charlottetown Air Station to train pilots and observers in maritime reconnaissance operations at a pace. By Sep. 1, 1942, flying training operations in the Gulf comprised, on average, 80 sorties a day. The GR School graduated 24 pilots and 24 observers weekly. In addition, the flight training crews were required to provide operational support to convoys and independent vessels passing through the Gulf on a regular basis except when covered by ice. Normally, the Anson training aircraft were not armed with depth bombs, and therefore, an armed Strike Anson aircraft had to be launched by the Station whenever a submarine was detected. The time lapse usually meant that no submarine attack could be made. On Sep. 9, Anson aircraft No. 74 piloted by P/O C.F. Sanford sighted a periscope is position 4655N 6350W which was just off the north coast of eastern PEI. The Anson crew held the submarine down until an armed Strike Aircraft arrived with two 250 pound anti submarine depth bombs but contact was not regained and the Strike Aircraft left at dusk.

Throughout September, approximately 100 sorties operated in the Gulf daily, conducting training and giving air coverage to convoys. Fishermen frequently reported seeing submarines and Strike Ansons were launched to attack but further submarine contact was rarely made. Also in September, the remaining staff of the decommissioned RAF # 32 Air Navigation School departed on repatriation to the UK.

There were frequent reports of enemy submarine sightings in waters south of Newfoundland and even in the Strait of Canso between Cape Briton Island and mainland Nova Scotia. The Station launched 120 patrol sorties on Sep. 13, in part, to counter an increased threat to convoys arriving and departing the Gulf through these waters. In spite of the heavy work load, the Station often arranged entertainment at messes to maintain good morale. A gala dance held at the Officers Mess on Oct. 16 including
special guests: Lt. Gov. and Mrs. B.W. LePage; Premier and Mrs. Thane Campbell; and, Group Captain and Mrs. F.R. Miller of Station Summerside. Earlier that day, a Victory Bond Parade was held in Charlottetown highlighted by a formation of twelve Anson aircraft conducting a low level fly-pass over a parade of 60 RAF airmen.

The good flying weather of summer came to an end with the arrival of low cloud, heavy rain and icing condition of autumn. On Oct. 22, #54 (pilots) and #18 (observers) General Reconnaissance Courses graduated. The following day a merchant vessel became disabled near the Magdalen Islands and Sgt Chapman and crew maintained an overhead vigilance with an armed Anson until weather forced them to return home with a new record of 5 hours and 40 minutes on-station time. At the end of October there were a total of 21 courses in residence, 17 Pilot and 4 Observer, totalling 504 trainees. Ten Anson aircraft were re-allocated to Summerside which reduced the Station aircraft inventory from 90 to 80 aircraft. Also, a special course of Canadian RCAF Instructors reported on Oct. 10 to learn what they could about General Reconnaissance teaching techniques prior to becoming instructors at the new # 1 GRS at Station Summerside.

On Nov. 14, 1942, a submarine accompanied by the Corvette Kamloops visited Charlottetown and was used to train crews during its transit. With the appearance of ice in the harbour the RCAF High Speed Launch 208 left to winter in Dartmouth, NS. On Nov. 17, F/Sgt Nageley and crew in Anson AX242 crashed landed five miles from the Station without casualties but the Anson was a write-off. On Nov. 23, a major storm with snow and gale force winds collapsed electrical line to the Station and left the Station without power for 16 hours.

111 aircraft sorties operated in the Gulf on Dec. 1, but by Dec. 4, the weather was beginning to adversely affect flying. The following day GR courses # 60 (pilots) and # 21 (observers) graduated and were posted. On Dec. 12, the Station launched 143 aircraft sorties over the Gulf, in effect, two sorties per aircraft per day, a substantial effort.

The first of a series of hockey games was played at the Charlottetown Forum Dec. 15, 1942. Team HMCS Queen Charlotte (Navy) won against team #31 GRS (RAF) by a score of six to four. Two days later two District Court Martials were held; a Sergeant was tried for misappropriation of mess funds and a pilot was tried for endangering his crew and aircraft by low flying. Severely low temperatures of minus18 degrees Fahrenheit at ground level and minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit at 1000 feet altitude were causing some aircraft windows to crack. LAC J. Nicholson was injured by a propeller during start-up of Anson AK 239 with Pilot P/O O.W. Kingdon. Also on Dec. 21, a bus conveying passenger from the Station to Charlottetown collided with a train causing some minor injuries.

The Station Commander authorized half of Station Personnel to take Christmas leave and the other half to take New Year’s leave. The traditional holiday activities included visitations among messes and the usual custom of officers serving Christmas dinner to the airmen. Many local people opened their homes to the servicemen resulting in many friendships, and a fair number of courtships and marriages.

The weather was mainly unfit for flying during the last week of 1942 and with the Gulf covered with ice the Strike Aircraft were de-armed of depth bombs and absorbed into the normal training fleet. As the year ended, there were 144 staff officers, 1056 airmen, 102 civilians, and 418 trainees totalling 1720 personnel at the Station, operating 80 Anson aircraft which flew 3470 hours in December.

As winter progressed, the weather was becoming a severe challenge to crews facing low cloud, blowing snow, freezing rain, and reduced visibility. On Jan. 5 1943, the high winds removed all the snow from the airfield leaving glare ice. On January 8, four aircraft ran off the runway on landing including a visiting USN Ventura and three Anson aircraft; numbered N423, N9900, and N5320. No casualties resulted but there was significant aircraft damage. Then on Jan. 12, Anson N5268 had an engine failure while patrolling west of the Magdalen Islands forcing it to return the 90 miles on one engine. Again five days later, on Jan.17, Anson K8727 had an engine failure northwest of the Magdalen Islands and made a forced landing on a beach. A Maritime Central Airways’ (MCA) Dragon aircraft with skis flew an engineer and mechanic to the site to inspect K8727 and to recover the crew. It was not until Jan. 30 that K8727 was successfully repaired by F/L G.S. Shaw and party and flown off the ice by F/L C.F. Kirkwood-Hackett. The Station Pipe Band provided entertainment at the “Aid to Russia Fund” during Robert Burns Day, Jan. 25, at Charlottetown. The following day freezing rain delayed flying operations but eventually 94 sorties were launched, and on Jan. 27, 132 sorties were launched to the Gulf.

On Jan. 27,1943, Anson N5201 with Pilot Sgt. Bultitude, 1st Nav. P/O Briddle, 2nd Nav. P/O Wickens, and Wireless Operator LAC Edwards made a wheels up forced landing on an ice floe about 20 miles north of St. Peters Bay when both engines suddenly went dead. There was insufficient room to land an Anson on the floe to recover the crew; consequently, supplies were air dropped and the downed crew members made themselves comfortable for the night. The following day a Fleet aircraft on skis piloted by MCA Pilot Capt. Carl Burke removed the crew one at a time. He recovered the first airman to St. Peters Bay, the second to the Station to refuel, the third to St. Peters Bay, and the fourth to the Station to refuel and made a fifth trip to recover the retrievable equipment in N2501. In recognition of his heroic rescue, Capt. Burke was appointed a Member of the British Empire (MBE) on Aug.13, 1943, a Pioneer Aviator to whose memory the PEI CAHS Chapter is dedicated. Eastern Air Command decided that salvage operations to recover Anson 5201 would be too dangerous unless it drifted to a safe location; and therefore, its position was monitored as it drifted in the Gulf. Anson 5201 was observed from time to time as it drifted to the northwest but it eventual disappeared. At the end of January, 1943, the Station had 517 aircrew trainees, 1625 training, maintenance, and support staff and 80 Anson aircraft flying 5588 hours in January.

Anson AX 372 flown by Sgt A.W. Grimes and crew of 1st Nav. P/O T.L. Huntley, 2nd Nav. Sgt. A.W. Kershaw, and Wireless Operator LAC T.A. Robinson hit a tree near Souris on a low level reconnaissance exercise resulting in a portion of the tree be lodged over the pilot’s seat and one-half of the tail plane being removed. The Anson was successfully flown the 60 miles back to the Station and landed without any further aircraft damage or injury to the crew.

At midnight Feb. 24, 1943, the Aircraft Detection Corps (ADC) at East Point, near Souris, reported to Station Charlottetown that they had a Hudson aircraft from Station Dartmouth, NS, circling the East Point light house in virtual zero visibility and were seeking help in locating a landing site. The Station was able to D/F the Hudson aircraft and informed ADC to instruct the pilot to steer 276 degrees magnetic to the Charlottetown Station. The last message from the Hudson’s pilot was at 0216 GMT Feb.25 (11:16 PM local time) when he reported that he was steering 276M and the crew would soon jettison the bomb load and bail out. Six minutes later at 0222 GMT (1122 hours local), the Hudson was heard to fly overhead the Station and one minute later a loud explosion was heard southwest of the Station. Shortly thereafter at 1124 hours, a telephone call from a Mr. Warren of Charlottetown reported that bombs landed between his house and that of his neighbour, Mr. Preston Beck, residents of Mount Edward Road (now a city street), less than a mile from the Station. A hole ten feet across and four feet deep was found between the two residences and two unexploded bombs were found nearby.

A massive ground and air search began for the bailed out crew and aircraft and continued over the following five days. The twin-engine Hudson was found crashed three miles from the New Brunswick coast northwest of Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick, the following day, much inline with the 276 degrees magnetic track from Souris, but there was no sign of the crew. This crew was one of four Hudson aircraft crews from RCAF Station Dartmouth returning from anti submarine patrols over waters south of Newfoundland. Two crews recovered to Station Charlottetown earlier in the day before the Station was reduced to zero visibility in fog. The third Hudson crew attempted to recover at the Dartmouth Station but crashed six miles short of the runway in fog resulting in the loss of the crew. This fourth crew, in finding that Station Charlottetown was obscured in fog, elected to jettison the bomb load and conduct a bail out rather than crash land.

The four airmen who parachuted into the Northumberland Strait that night were: S/L A.C. Wilson, Perth, Ont.; F/O A.J. Barrette, Ottawa, Ont.; F/O William Richardson, USA, and W/O J.A. Dobson, Bathurst, NB. The four airmen must have jumped virtually as a unit because they landed together on a floe cake measuring only 30 yards square. During most of the time that they were floating up and down the coast, the weather was severe and the four airmen overcame the cold by huddling together behind a snow bank and combated boredom by occasionally running around and shouting. They built a fire from a parachute that lasted only a brief time. As they drifted up and down the Strait, they could see land and lights clearly, also, the outline of a lighthouse, and at times, they could hear a dog barking. They never lost confidence that they would be found alive. On Mar. 1, the surviving crew was spotted by a RAF Search aircraft from Station Charlottetown on the ice floe 10 miles northwest of Cape Tormentine. They were picked up by the Car Ferry PEI, guided to their location by the search aircraft. The airmen were in remarkably good condition as only one of them had to be assisted up the ladder unto ferry. They first wanted to know who won the RCAF verses Navy hockey game at Dartmouth.

On Mar. 2, a successful concert performed by the Station Concert Party assisted by Charlottetown Ladies netted eleven hundred dollars for the Red Cross Drive. The following day a blizzard suddenly occurred forcing the recall of 24 aircraft, rescuing the last one using D/F homing with ceiling conditions of 200 feet and a visibility of 500 yards. A successful boxing match was held at the Charlottetown Sporting Club in aid of the Kinsmen sponsored “Milk to Britain Fund” on Mar. 4.

At noon Mar.23, 1943, disaster struck the Station. A fire started in the Annex of the northwest corner of Hangar Number #6, the Main Maintenance Hangar, which contained 13 aircraft and major supply items. The fire spread to the wing of an aircraft and leaped from aircraft to aircraft and within a few minutes the entire hangar was ablaze. Two Ansons were saved from the blaze but 11 were lost. The Charlottetown Fire Department arrived quickly but there was no hope of saving the hangar so efforts were directed to saving nearby hangars and other buildings. Aircraft were removed from the other hangars and men were posted to roofs to smoother any small fires. At 1230 hours, the roof of #6 Hangar collapsed, and by 1300 hours, the situation was well in hand with no risk to other buildings and none too soon because the water reservoir was nearly empty. In addition to the loss of 11 Ansons, major aircraft parts and other important equipment and stores were lost. The cost of a replacement hangar was estimated at $100.000. A subsequent Court of Inquiry determined that the fire was caused by a recently installed filter for reclaiming cleaner fluids. It recommended that users of this kind of equipment should ensure that the equipment is correctly installed and that in any case it should not be installed in an aircraft hangar.

On Apr. 5, courses #85 (Pilots) and #31 (Observers) reported for training. On Apr. 8, Anson W1754 with Pilot Sgt. H.R. Simmonds, 1st Nav. F/O J.R. May, 2nd Nav. P/O P.S. Wright and W/Op LAC. C. F.A. Webb failed to return following a search for a missing Hudson aircraft and all were presumed lost. Then on Apr. 14, a rubber dinghy belonging to the missing Anson W1754 was found on the Atlantic shore of Nova Scotia. There were no sign of the missing airmen. On this same day, Anson AX 346 with pilot Sgt. J. Beer, 1st Nav. P/O O.H. Mennie, 2nd Nav. P/O G.N. Kilgour and W/Op AC1 F.A. Nash ditched off Sydney NS. One-half hour later a dinghy was sighted containing the four airmen but contact was lost due to darkness. Thirty-six aircraft were launched at first light to locate the dinghy but all aircraft had to be recalled immediately due to heavy snow. The missing crew were spotted by the icebreaker SOREL and recovered to Sydney in good condition. Freezing rain forced the recall of all aircraft on Apr. 12, but Anson R9599 with Pilot K.K. Bell, 1st Nav. P/O Hammett, 2nd Nav. P/O Wise, and W/Op LAC Wilkes failed to respond to the recall. Later, a search crew found the aircraft wreckage in position 4635N 6332W.

On Apr. 30, ADC reported submarine sightings in the Northumberland Strait and the Gulf. Strike Aircraft were launched to both locations with depth bombs and remained in the area until dark without further sightings of either submarine. W/C P.D. Wood replaced W/C R.H. Warcup as Chief Instructor and S/L G. Frain replaced S/L F. Hume as Deputy Chief Instructor providing a change in senior staff at GRS.

At the end of April, 1943, there were 1818 military staff, 100 civilians, and 568 trainees at the RAF Station. There were 78 Ansons aircraft including; 75 Mark 1 Ansons, and 3 Mark 5 Ansons. This is the first indication that Mark 5 Anson aircraft were being flown at the Station. Of these Anson aircraft, 53 were serviceable and 25 were unserviceable. The total flying for April was 4514 hours. The breakdown of the April flying hours was recorded as; Operational - 8 day hours, Non Operational - 4336 day hours and 48 night hours, and Other flying - 122 hours. G/C E.A. Blake still commanded the Station. (To be continued.)